Two American prisoners were being held in custody in Afghanistan, a Taliban government spokesman said Wednesday, and an “exchange” for Afghans held in Guantanamo Bay had been discussed with the United States.
Zabihullah Mujahid did not name the US prisoners, but an American woman was among more than a dozen staff of an international NGO arrested by Taliban authorities last September, and aid worker Ryan Corbett has been custody in since 2022.
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“We should be able to free our citizens in (an) exchange, as American citizens are important for them (the United States), just as Afghans are important for us,” Mujahid told a press conference in Kabul.
He said discussions over a prisoner exchange were held with US representatives during United Nations-led talks in Qatar.
The talks, which gathered UN officials, Taliban authorities and the special envoys to Afghanistan, ended on Monday.
“Two American citizens are imprisoned in Afghanistan,” Mujahid told the press conference, adding that Afghan prisoners were also held in the United States, including in the secretive US prison in Cuba.
“We have had discussions on their release with them (the United States) before. Afghanistan’s conditions should be accepted,” he said.
