KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban has confirmed that the regime is holding several foreign nationals, including two US citizens, for “violation of Afghanistan laws”.
In an audio clip shared by the Taliban-controlled Radio Television of Afghanistan (RTA) on Sunday, March 39, Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, said that anyone entering the country must adhere to its laws and regulations.
“A number of foreign citizens are detained in Afghanistan, including two Americans, due to violations of Afghanistan’s laws,” Mujahid said.
He refrained from providing additional details regarding the nationalities of the other detainees.
As previously reported by NBC News, senior US officials have also confirmed that the Taliban have two US citizens in custody, whom the US government seeks to have released.
According to NBC, the US officials were unable to give an exact number of US citizens currently in Afghanistan. However, they noted that since the closure of the US embassy in Afghanistan, “many US citizens departed, returned, and departed again.”
Neither the Taliban nor the US officials revealed the identities of the US nationals detained by the ruling regime in Afghanistan. However, it has been confirmed that one of the US citizens being held by the Taliban is Ryan Corbett.
A family member reported that Ryan Corbett, aged 42, was arrested by the Taliban, alongside his German colleague and two Afghan counterparts, while on a business trip to Afghanistan on August 10, 2022.
Mr. Corbett and his family had been in Afghanistan since 2010 working on development projects. . In 2017, he established “Bloom Afghanistan” with the aim of offering consultancy services and microloans to small enterprises.
Recently, Anna Corbett, Ryan’s wife, expressed serious concerns about Mr. Corbett’s well-being while in Taliban custody. She said that she and their children had received a “deeply disturbing call from Ryan,” indicating that he is losing hope.
“We spoke with him for 12 minutes, and it was very clear to me that he is giving up hope, and that was devastating to me,” she told Fox News last Wednesday.
“He also was really sick last week with a high fever and no one knew. No one had seen him, and he has not been visited since December.”
Mrs. Corbett asked President Joe Biden and his administration to take further action to secure Ryan’s return home. “He’s an important U.S. citizen who was just trying to help people, and he needs to be brought home. My children need him back.”
Earlier, Michael McCaul, Chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, criticized the Biden administration for not doing enough to secure Mr. Corbett’s release despite his deteriorating health condition in Taliban prison.
“Ryan’s worsening condition is a tragic yet predictable consequence of the administration’s disastrous withdrawal – Americans becoming collateral damage and victims of the Taliban monsters,” Mr. McCaul said, emphasizing that Mr. Corbett must be released immediately.
Last week, the spokesperson for the US Department of State, Mathew Miller, emphasized that the release of the US citizens was “the highest priority” and mentioned that US Special Envoy for Afghanistan, Thomas West, had engaged with Taliban officials on the matter.
“We have no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas. Not just in this meeting, but in previous meetings, we have continually pressed for the release of Americans detained in Afghanistan,” he told reporters.
