The Taliban has released two American citizens in a prisoner exchange negotiated by the outgoing Biden administration, US media reports and the families of the two men said.
The two Americans – Ryan Corbett and William McKenty – were exchanged for a member of the Afghan Taliban named Khan Mohammed who was convicted in 2008 on narco-terrorism charges.
In a statement provided to The Independent, Mr Corbett’s family first thanked the new US president Donald Trump, and then his predecessor Joe Biden, for their efforts to secure his release.
“Today, our hearts are filled with overwhelming gratitude and praise to God for sustaining Ryan’s life and bringing him back home after what has been the most challenging and uncertain 894 days of our lives,” Mr Corbett’s family said.
No statement was provided from the family of Mr McKenty, 69, due to his family’s request to the US government for privacy.
Khan Mohammad, 55, was a narcotics trafficker who sought to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan using rockets, according to the US Department of Justice. He was sentenced to life in prison in the US’s first conviction on narco-terror charges.
The exchange took place after Mr Biden had left the White House but was negotiated by his administration, with several rounds of talks mediated by Qatar, according to multiple people aware of the details of the swap. Qatar also provided logistical support to get the two American men out of Kabul safely, officials said.
Mr Corbett’s family also thanked the Qatari government. “Your efforts as mediators, your compassion, and your commitment to diplomacy have given our family the most precious gift imaginable: Ryan’s freedom,” they said.
While negotiations had been taking place for many months the “very latest push happened in the course of the past week”, Mr Corbett’s lawyer Ryan Fayhee told The Independent.
An official from the Biden administration told CNN that the details of the exchange were communicated to Donald Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz. The incoming administration was “on board with this deal, acknowledged it and [had] not objected to it”, they said.
Explaining the delay, one person briefed on the swap told CNN that the Taliban preferred to let Mr Trump take the credit for the deal and did not want the news to be lost during buzz around the inauguration itself. Bad weather in both Washington and Kabul was also partly blamed.
A senior Trump administration official indicated some disapproval of the terms of the deal but welcomed the release of the two Americans. “While we would not do the deal that the Biden administration did at the end, we are always happy to have two Americans home,” the Trump official was quoted as saying.
Mr Corbett, a New York resident, started an enterprise called “Bloom Afghanistan” in 2017 to boost the country’s private sector by providing business consulting services, microfinance lending and evaluation of international development projects. He wanted to help Afghans start their own businesses but had to flee in 2021 as the Taliban returned to power in the country.
He returned, apparently to train the Bloom Afghanistan staff, but was detained in August 2022 despite having a valid visa. The State Department said last year that he was wrongfully detained.
The Taliban are believed to have two other American nationals in their custody – Mahmoud Shah Habibi, a senior civil aviation official under the previous Nato-backed government of Afghanistan and George Glezmann, a tourist. The Taliban have not acknowledged holding Mr Habibi in their custody, and details about his condition are unknown.
Mr Habibi is an Afghan-American businessman who worked as a contractor for a Kabul-based telecommunications company and also went missing in 2022. He is believed to have been arrested by the Taliban in August 2022 after a drone strike killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Mr Biden had promised last week that an exchange deal would not take place if all three Americans – Mr Corbett, Mr Glezmann and Mr Habibi – were not included in the deal. There was no public discussion of talks around Mr McKenty at that time.
The Taliban had reportedly sought the release of Afghan national Muhammad Rahim, a Guantanamo Bay detainee and a close aide of the late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
“During the phone call with Mr Biden, he assured me that he will not finalise the trade unless my brother is included,” Mr Habibi’s brother Ahmad Shah Habibi told The Independent after the call, adding that the Taliban wanted the al-Qaeda adviser in return.
Mr Corbett’s family said they were still hoping for the release of the remaining Americans from Taliban custody. “It was our hope that Ryan, George and Mahmoud would be returned to their families together, and we cannot imagine the pain that our good fortune will bring them. We recognise the immense privilege of our family’s reunion today, and pledge to keep praying – and fighting – for George and Mahmoud’s swift release,” they said in a statement.
