US citizen freed after nine months in Afghan prison, Qatari mediators say

Afghanistan's Taliban government freed a US citizen who had been held in an Afghan prison for nine months on Sunda , after reaching an agreement with US envoys on a prisoner exchange as part of an effort to normalise relations.

The Taliban Foreign Ministry's Deputy Spokesperson Zia Ahmad Takal identified the man as Amir Amiri.

An official with knowledge of the release said Amiri had been detained in Afghanistan since December last year, and added that he was on his way back to the US.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed Amiri's release, saying it marked the Trump administration's determination to protect American nationals from wrongful detention in foreign countries.

The release came just weeks after US President Donald Trump's executive order on 5 September which imposed new "consequences on those who wrongfully detain Americans abroad."

"While this marks an important step forward, additional Americans remain unjustly detained in Afghanistan. President Trump will not rest until all our captive citizens are back home."

Qatar facilitated Amiri's release as part of the Gulf nation's security partnership with Washington, that has also secured the release of four other Americans from Taliban detention this year.

Doha also helped secure the release of a British couple last week who were imprisoned for months on undisclosed charges.

Ahmad Habibi, the brother of Mahmood Habibi, a US citizen held by the Taliban for more than three years, said he and his family were grateful to hear the news about Amiri, and they remained hopeful that Mahmood would also return home.

Mahmood Habibi, an Afghan-American business owner, worked as a contractor for a Kabul-based telecommunications company and vanished in 2022. The FBI and his family have said they believe he was taken by the Taliban, who have denied holding him.

"We are grateful that senior officials at the State Department and National Security Council have repeatedly assured us that any deal they do with the Taliban will be 'all or nothing' and they have explicitly assured us that they will not leave my brother behind," said Ahmad Habibi.

It is not yet clear what the Taliban government will receive in exchange for freeing the US nationals, but Afghanistan's needs are many.

The country has been grappling with major financial crises, rampant inflation, high unemployment and a dire cost of living crisis.

International aid money that flowed into Afghanistan after the 2001 US-led invasion is running low, particularly after an earthquake struck the northeastern Kunar province on 31 August, killing at least 2,000 people and destroying thousands of homes.

Afghanistan also remains a focus for Trump, who has said recently that he wants to retake Bagram Air Base, a former US military facility, due to its strategic importance.

"If Afghanistan doesn't give Bagram Airbase back to those that built it, the United States of America, BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN!!!" Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

The Taliban have however rejected Trump's demand, saying that the base is on their soil and belongs to them, urging him to adopt a policy of "realism and rationality."