On Sunday, Afghanistan announced the release of a U.S. citizen, a move confirmed by the State Department and Afghanistan’s foreign ministry. This action comes weeks after the Taliban and the Trump administration reached an understanding regarding prisoner exchanges.
The United States expressed its satisfaction at the return of Amir Amiry, who had been wrongfully detained in Afghanistan. However, U.S. officials, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the situation, noted that several other Americans are still being unjustly held in Afghanistan.
Both the Afghan and U.S. governments extended their gratitude to Qatar for its crucial role in mediating this release. Despite this progress, the Taliban are believed to be holding at least three more American citizens.
The circumstances surrounding Mr. Amiry’s presence in Afghanistan and the reasons for his detention remain largely unexplained, as the Taliban rarely comment on the arrests of foreign nationals.
Afghanistan has been actively seeking diplomatic inroads and foreign investment to rejuvenate its struggling economy and break free from the global isolation it has endured since the Taliban took control in 2021.
To date, these efforts have yielded limited results. Last week, Taliban officials were denied entry to the United Nations General Assembly, and Russia remains the sole nation to officially recognize their authority in Afghanistan.
Since the Taliban’s takeover, U.S. engagement with Afghanistan has primarily been confined to urgent matters like hostage negotiations. However, a surprising announcement came this month from President Trump, who stated that the United States was working to regain control of Bagram Air Base near Kabul, a facility it had occupied for nearly two decades until 2021.
The 2020 agreement between the United States and the Taliban, signed during the first Trump administration, stipulated a complete withdrawal of all U.S. military forces from Afghanistan and made no provision for retaining Bagram Air Base or any other strategic outpost.
Nonetheless, after the Taliban dismissed Mr. Trump’s assertions about Bagram, he issued a social media warning this month, implying that “bad things” would occur if they did not comply.
Mr. Amiry’s release coincided with a meeting in Kabul between Afghanistan’s foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, and Adam Boehler, the Trump administration’s special envoy for hostage affairs. This was their second such meeting in the span of a month.
Among the U.S. citizens still held is Mahmood Habibi, detained since August 2022.
Ahmad Habibi, Mahmood’s brother, welcomed Mr. Amiry’s release on Sunday, expressing confidence in President Trump’s commitment.
He further added, “We are deeply appreciative that high-ranking officials at the State Department and National Security Council have consistently assured us that any agreement with the Taliban would be ‘all or nothing,’ explicitly promising that my brother would not be left behind.”
According to the White House, at least three American citizens have been freed from Taliban custody during the second Trump administration. George Glezmann, held for over two years, was released in March. Additionally, Ryan Corbett and William McKenty were freed on the night of Mr. Trump’s inauguration.
In mid-September, the Taliban also released a British couple who had been detained since February.