The US State Department has confirmed the release of George Glezmann, an American citizen, from Taliban custody. However, there is still no update on the status of Mahmood Shah Habibi, an Afghan-American citizen who remains detained by the Taliban.
The State Department reiterated that American citizens are still being held in Afghanistan. Earlier, two separate Taliban sources told Afghanistan International that following increased US pressure, Habibi was transferred to Kandahar about a year ago.
According to the US State Department, Glezmann was freed through diplomatic mediation by Qatar. Before him, Ryan Corbett and William McKenty were released in January in exchange for a Taliban prisoner. The agreement for Corbett and McKenty’s release was finalised in the final hours of Joe Biden’s presidency. The Taliban agreed to exchange them for Khan Mohammad, a Taliban member serving a life sentence in the US on terrorism charges. This deal was also brokered by Qatar, which hosted several rounds of US-Taliban negotiations and provided logistical support for their evacuation from Kabul.
CNN reported that US officials had sought to include Glezmann and Habibi in the exchange, but the Taliban refused to release them. The Taliban have not officially acknowledged Habibi’s detention, but the US still considers him a hostage.
According to the US State Department, George Glezmann was employed as a mechanic for Delta Airlines. After the fall of the previous Afghan government, he remained in Afghanistan. He travelled abroad three months before his arrest, but just four days after returning to Kabul, he was detained by the Taliban.
The Taliban accuse Mahmood Shah Habibi of collaborating with the CIA in identifying the hideout of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda, in Kabul. Al-Zawahiri was killed on 31 July 2022 in a US drone strike in the Sherpur area of Kabul.
