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 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 their rule and another two Americans are believed held.
US, Taliban and Qatar all involved in the swap
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 detained 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.
Corbett’s family also praised the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar “for their vital role in facilitating Ryan’s release, and for their visits to Ryan as the United
States’ Protecting Power in Afghanistan.” Energy-rich Qatar has hosted negotiations between the US and the Taliban over the years.
A statement later from the Qatar Foreign Ministry acknowledged the country’s role in the swap, saying all those traded passed through Doha on their way to their own countries.
Qatar hopes “that this agreement would pave the way for achieving further understandings as a means to resolve disputes through peaceful means,” the statement said.
Both CNN and The New York Times, relying on anonymous US officials, identified the second American released as William McKenty, though no other details have emerged about his identity or what he was doing in Afghanistan. Officials in Washington did not respond to requests for comment early Tuesday after Trump’s inauguration the day before.
Taliban prisoner first convicted of narco-terrorism
Mohammed, 55, was a prisoner in California after his 2008 conviction. The Bureau of Prisons early Tuesday listed Mohammed as not being in their custody.
Hafiz Zia Ahmad Takal, a Taliban Foreign Ministry deputy spokesperson, said Mohammed had arrived in Afghanistan and was with his family. Photos released by the Taliban showed him being welcomed back in his home province of Nangarhar, in the country’s east, with multicoloured garlands.
Mohammed told Taliban-controlled media he had spent time behind bars in Bagram and also Washington, D.C.
“It’s a joy seeing your family and coming to your homeland. The greatest joy is to come and join your Muslim brothers,” he said.
He was detained on the battlefield in Nangarhar and later taken to the US. A federal jury convicted him on charges of securing heroin and opium that he knew were bound for the United States and, in doing so, assisting terrorism activity.
The Justice Department at the time referred to Mohammed as “a violent jihadist and narcotics trafficker” who “sought to kill US soldiers in Afghanistan using rockets.” He was the first person to be convicted on US narco-terrorism laws.
