Afghanistan’s Taliban government releases U.S. citizen from prison
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- The Taliban has released U.S. citizen Amir Amiri from an Afghan prison, the latest diplomatic breakthrough in ongoing prisoner exchange negotiations.
- Qatar facilitated the release, marking the fifth American freed from Afghan detention this year through the Gulf nation’s security partnership efforts.
- Additional Americans remain detained in Afghanistan, including businessman Mahmood Habibi, who has been held for more than three years.
ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s Taliban government Sunday freed a U.S. citizen from prison, weeks after it said it had reached an agreement with U.S. envoys on a prisoner exchange as part of an effort to normalize relations.
The deputy spokesperson for the Taliban Foreign Ministry, Zia Ahmad Takal, identified the American as Amir Amiri. He did not say when Amiri was detained, why or where.
An official with knowledge of the release said Amiri had been detained in Afghanistan since December 2024 and was now on his way back to the U.S. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the details with the media.
Qatar facilitated Amiri’s release in the latest diplomatic achievement resulting from its security partnership with the U.S. that has secured the freedom of four other Americans from Afghan detention this year. Qatar, an energy-rich nation on the Arabian Peninsula, also helped in releasing a British couple who were imprisoned for months.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed Amiri’s release, saying it marked the administration’s determination, reinforced by the president’s recent executive order, to protect American nationals from wrongful detention abroad.
“While this marks an important step forward, additional Americans remain unjustly detained in Afghanistan. President Trump will not rest until all our captive citizens are back home,” Rubio said.
Ahmad Habibi, the brother of Mahmood Habibi, a U.S. citizen held by the Taliban for more than three years, said he and his family were grateful to hear the news about Amiri, and they remained hopeful that Mahmood would be brought home as well.
Mahmood Habibi, an Afghan American business owner, worked as a contractor for a Kabul-based telecommunications company and vanished in 2022. The FBI and his family have said they believe he was taken by the Taliban, which has denied holding him.
“We are grateful that senior officials at the State Department and National Security Council have repeatedly assured us that any deal they do with the Taliban will be ‘all or nothing’ and they have explicitly assured us that they will not leave my brother behind,” Ahmad Habibi said.
Butt writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report from Washington.
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