The Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the release of Khan Mohammad, a member of the group who had been serving a life sentence in the United States, as part of lengthy negotiations with Washington. While the Taliban described the exchange, they did not explicitly mention the release of American citizens in return.
However, U.S. media outlets, including CNN, reported that the exchange included the release of two American citizens, Ryan Corbett and William McEntee, who had been held by the Taliban. According to CNN, the two were transferred back to the United States early Tuesday morning, January 21.
The Taliban stated that Khan Mohammad had been arrested in Nangarhar about two decades ago and sentenced in 2008 on charges related to terrorism and drug trafficking. He had been serving his sentence in a California prison.
Qatar, which has previously hosted multiple rounds of negotiations between the Taliban and the U.S., played a pivotal role in facilitating this exchange and the transfer of the American detainees from Kabul.
In a statement, the Taliban described the exchange as an “example of resolving issues through dialogue” and expressed gratitude to Qatar for its effective role. The group also praised Washington’s actions, calling them a positive step towards normalizing and expanding relations between the two sides.
