Islamabad, Pakistan — Afghanistan’s Taliban government announced the release Tuesday of two Americans in a prisoner exchange.
The Taliban’s Foreign Ministry in Kabul didn’t name the two U.S. citizens, but said they were exchanged for Khan Muhammad, who was arrested in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar two decades ago and has been serving a life sentence in a California prison.
The family of Ryan Corbett, one of the Americans in the exchange, said early Tuesday their hearts were filled with “overwhelming gratitude for sustaining his life and bringing him back home after what had been the most challenging and uncertain 894 days of our lives.”
Corbett, who had lived in Afghanistan with his family at the time of the 2021 collapse of the U.S.-backed government, was abducted by the Taliban in August 2022 while on a business trip.
Courtesy Corbett family
The family’s statement thanked President Trump, former President Joe Biden, numerous officials of their administrations, and Qatar for facilitating Corbett’s release, and to express the hope that two other Americans who’ve been held in Afghanistan, would also be released.
There was no word on who the second American freed was — George Glezmann and Mahmoud Habibi — and no U.S. confirmation that either had been let go.
The Taliban ministry said the exchange was the result of “long and fruitful negotiations” with the U.S. and was a good example of solving problems through dialogue.
“The Islamic Emirate looks positively at the actions of the United States of America that help the normalization and development of relations between the two countries,” the statement said.
Last week, Biden spoke with relatives of three Americans the U.S. government was attempting to bring home from Afghanistan, but there was no deal to get them back at that time, family members said.
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