Taliban official says US envoy agrees to prisoner swap in Kabul meeting | Taliban News

The reported go to follows one in March 2025 which led to the discharge of a US citizen held for greater than two years in Afghanistan.

United States officers have agreed to a prisoner trade after a uncommon speak with the authorities in Kabul, in response to the Taliban administration’s Ministry of International Affairs.

Adam Boehler, the Trump administration’s particular envoy for hostage response, and Zalmay Khalilzad, a former US particular envoy for Afghanistan, met with the Taliban’s International Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

“Adam Boehler, referring to the problem of detained residents between Afghanistan and america, mentioned that each international locations will trade prisoners,” deputy prime minister Abdul Ghani Baradar’s workplace mentioned after their assembly.

There was no rapid assertion from Washington relating to the assembly, and Khalilzad didn’t instantly reply to a telephone name from Reuters when requested for remark.

Mahmood Habibi, a naturalised US citizen and businessman who beforehand labored for a telecommunications firm in Kabul, is the highest-profile American detainee, in response to Washington. The US is providing a $5 million reward for info to seek out him, with the Taliban authorities denying any involvement in his 2022 disappearance.

The Taliban has reportedly pressed for the discharge of Muhammad Rahim, the final Afghan nationwide held at Guantanamo Bay, who has been detained with out cost since 2008.

One other American, airline mechanic George Glezmann, was freed after greater than two years in detention throughout a March go to to Kabul by Boehler.

That deal, mediated by Qatar, was described by the Taliban as a “humanitarian” gesture and a “signal of goodwill”.

Earlier than that, in January 2025, the 2 sides carried out a prisoner trade through which US residents Ryan Corbett and William Wallace McKenty have been launched in trade for Khan Mohammad, an Afghan nationwide serving two life sentences within the US.

Each side additionally agreed to proceed discussions relating to nationals imprisoned in one another’s international locations, the assertion added.

The Taliban administration, which took energy in 2021 after 20 years of US army intervention in Afghanistan, just isn’t recognised by Washington.