Washington’s special envoy, Adam Boehler, made a rare visit to Kabul on Saturday, where the Taliban government said he confirmed that the United States would proceed with a prisoner exchange.
“Adam Boehler, referring to the issue of detained citizens between Afghanistan and the United States, said that both countries will exchange prisoners,” deputy prime minister Abdul Ghani Baradar’s office announced after their meeting.
The US has not yet commented on Boehler’s visit, and no date has been fixed for the swap.
At least one American, Mahmood Habibi, remains detained in Afghanistan. Washington has offered a $5 million reward for information on his whereabouts, though Taliban authorities deny any role in his 2022 disappearance.
In March, during a previous trip to Kabul, Boehler secured the release of airline mechanic George Glezmann, who had been held for more than two years.
On Saturday, Boehler, accompanied by Washington’s former envoy to Kabul, Zalmay Khalilzad, also met Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, to discuss detainees.
“Both sides emphasised that they will continue to discuss various existing and future issues in bilateral relations, especially those citizens who are imprisoned in both countries,” government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat wrote on X.
Dozens of foreign nationals have been detained since the Taliban retook power in August 2021 after US forces withdrew.
This week, Moscow announced that Afghan authorities had freed a Russian ethnologist detained since July on several charges, following a request from Russia. The Russian foreign ministry said the release was granted in light of “friendly relations”. Russia remains the only country to officially recognise the Taliban government.
In January, two Americans were released in exchange for an Afghan fighter, Khan Mohammed, who had been convicted of narco-terrorism in the United States.
The Taliban government insists it seeks constructive relations with other countries, including the US, despite two decades of conflict. On Saturday, the foreign minister reiterated his call for a “return to normal relations”, stressing that there were no “irresolvable problems in bilateral ties”.
Several countries — including Pakistan, China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran — have maintained their embassies in Kabul since 2021.