Afghanistan releases US citizen after visit by envoy

Amir Amiri was freed through Qatari mediation

US citizen Amir Amiri, left, aboard a plane in Kabul after being freed. Reuters

Afghanistan has released a US citizen from custody after a visit by Washington's hostage envoy Adam Boehler, the US government said.

Amir Amiri, who had been detained in Afghanistan since December last year, was released through Qatari mediation and was on his way to Doha on Sunday evening.

Mr Boehler's visit came a week after US President Donald Trump urged the Taliban to give back control of Bagram airbase to the US, threatening “bad things” would happen if it does not.

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Mr Amiri is one of several US citizens freed by the Taliban this year thanks to Qatari mediation, along with a British couple held for eight months.

“I want to thank Qatar for helping secure his freedom,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X. “POTUS [the US President] has made it clear we will not stop until every American unjustly detained abroad is back home.”

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

Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi (centre right) with US official Adam Boehler (centre left) in Kabul. AFP

Mahmood, an Afghan-American business owner, worked as a contractor for a Kabul-based telecoms 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,” Ahmad Habibi said.

“The Biden administration did nothing for us. We have faith in President Trump.”

It is unclear why the Taliban released Mr Amiri, but Mr Trump has recently placed pressure on the country with his pledge to retake Bagram airbase, which Washington lost in a chaotic withdrawal in 2021.