By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-01-21 07:46:23 | Updated at 2025-01-21 12:20:16
4 hours ago
A prisoner swap between the United States and Afghanistan’s Taliban freed two Americans in exchange for a Taliban figure imprisoned for life in California on drug trafficking and terrorism charges, officials said on Tuesday.
The deal came as Joe Biden, who oversaw the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, handed power over to returning President Donald Trump.
The Taliban praised the swap as a step toward the “normalisation” of ties between the US and Afghanistan, but that likely remains a tall order as most countries in the world still don’t recognise the militants’ rule.
The Taliban’s foreign ministry in Kabul confirmed the swap, saying two unidentified US citizens had been exchanged for Khan Mohammed, who was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment in 2008.
The family of Ryan Corbett, one American held by the Taliban, confirmed he had been released in a statement. Corbett, who had lived in Afghanistan with his family at the time of the 2021 collapse of the US-backed government, was abducted by the Taliban in August 2022 while on a business trip.
“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,” the family’s statement said. They thanked both Trump and Biden, as well as many government officials, for their efforts in freeing him.
