KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban has freed US citizens Ryan Corbett and William McKenty in exchange for Khan Mohammad, a Taliban member who had been serving a life sentence in a US prison on narco-terrorism charges
As reported by CNN, the long-awaited exchange took place in the final hours of President Biden’s tenure on Monday, January 20, with Qatar mediating the process.
The Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the prisoner swap in a statement on X (formerly Twitter), stating that it took place after “extensive and productive negotiations” between the US and the Taliban.
The ministry expressed gratitude to the state of Qatar for its “effective role” in the process, describing the move as “a good example of resolving issues through dialogue.”
Khan Mohammad, a Taliban member released in exchange for the two US citizens, was convicted in 2008 on narco-terrorism charges and had been serving his life sentence in a prison in California.
The Biden administration has been negotiating with the Taliban for over the past two years regarding a US proposal to secure the release of detained Americans. A senior Biden administration official, quoted by CNN, revealed that the Taliban had rejected and delayed the deal multiple times, putting several significant offers on the table.
According to the report, another reason for the recent delay was that the Taliban preferred to let President Trump take credit and claim the win for the deal.
The report further highlighted that the US official expressed disappointment that two other Americans, George Golzman and Mahmoud Habibi, were not released, emphasizing that they could not turn down the offer for at least Corbett and McKenty. A few days earlier, in a meeting with Rahimi’s family, Biden assured them that he would not allow any swap to take place unless all US citizens held in Afghanistan, including Habibi, were freed.
No further details were provided about the released McKenty, including his activities in Afghanistan and the timing of his detention. However, Corbett, 42, was arrested by the Taliban during a business trip to Afghanistan on August 10, 2022.
Although the Taliban has not officially disclosed the primary reason for Corbett’s detention, CBS News reported that a Taliban intelligence official accused him of “anti-state activities,” a charge the US Department of State has dismissed as “baseless.”
The Taliban has a history of holding Westerners hostage to gain political leverage and secure prisoner exchanges. In September 2022, Bashir Noorzai, a Taliban financier and drug lord serving a life sentence, was released in exchange for the freedom of Mark Frerichs, a US citizen detained by the Taliban before the collapse of the Afghan republic government.
In 2014, the Taliban released Bowe Bergdahl, a US Army sergeant held captive for five years by the Haqqani network, a Taliban-affiliated group, in exchange for five Taliban leaders held at Guantanamo Bay.
