The Taliban government announced on Tuesday the release of Afghan prisoner Khan Mohammad, who had been detained in the United Stated, in exchange for American detainees. The deal was reportedly facilitated by Qatar.
According to a statement from the Afghan foreign ministry, Mohammad had been serving a life sentence in California after being arrested nearly two decades ago in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province.
However, the ministry did not provide further details, including the number of American prisoners involved in the exchange.
This announcement comes one day after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, whose administration negotiated a deal with the Taliban that led to the US military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and the Taliban’s return to power.
Following Trump’s election victory in November, the Taliban had expressed hopes for a “new chapter” in relations with the United States.
The Taliban government labelled the prisoner exchange as a positive example of resolving issues through dialogue and extended gratitude to Qatar for its “effective role” in the deal.
“The Islamic Emirate views positively those actions of the United States that contribute to the normalisation and expansion of relations between the two countries,” the statement added, referring to the Taliban’s official name for its government.