A United States citizen kidnapped by the Taliban has been launched after two years in captivity, in line with the US Division of State.
The discharge on Thursday of George Glezmann, who was kidnapped whereas travelling as a vacationer in Afghanistan in December 2022, marks the third time a US detainee has been freed by the Taliban since January.
In a press release, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated Glezmann’s launch represents a “optimistic and constructive step”.
He additionally thanked Qatar for its “instrumental” function in securing the discharge.
“Immediately, after two and a half years of captivity in Afghanistan, Delta Airways mechanic George Glezmann is on his solution to be reunited together with his spouse, Aleksandra,” Rubio wrote.
“George joins American Ryan Corbett and William McKenty, who had been launched from Afghanistan on the evening of President Trump’s inauguration and returned house to their households.”
Corbett and McKenty, nonetheless, had been allowed to go away underneath a deal reached through the administration of US President Joe Biden, which was additionally brokered by Qatar.
The Taliban has beforehand described the discharge of US detainees as a part of its international “normalisation” effort.
The group stays a world pariah since its lightning takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021: No nation has formally recognised the Taliban authorities, though a number of international locations proceed to function diplomatic services within the nation.
Afghanistan’s takeover got here because the Biden administration oversaw a withdrawal outlined by the primary administration of US President Donald Trump.
The Republican chief negotiated with the Taliban in 2020 to finish the conflict in Afghanistan, and he agreed to a 14-month deadline to withdraw US troops and allied forces.
The settlement was controversial for leaving out the Western-backed Afghan authorities, which was toppled amid the US’s chaotic exit from the nation in 2021.
In contrast to the detainee launch deal reached underneath Biden with the Taliban, Glezmann’s departure from Taliban custody didn’t contain an change of prisoners held by the US, an official briefed on the matter instructed The Related Press information company.
The official described the transfer as a goodwill gesture.
Extra US residents held
The Trump administration has not articulated a transparent coverage for the way it will strategy dealings with the Taliban authorities through the president’s second time period.
Nevertheless, Trump has been a common critic of how the Biden administration oversaw the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
A bomb assault at Kabul’s airport within the closing days of the withdrawal killed at the least 170 Afghan civilians searching for to flee the nation, in addition to 13 US troopers.
Trump repeatedly referred to the “Abbey Gate” bombing as he campaigned for a second time period in 2024, calling it “probably the most embarrassing day within the historical past of our nation”.
The Republican chief has usually maintained the withdrawal would have been extra orderly underneath his watch, although he has curtailed international funding and refugee programmes that support Afghans since returning to workplace.
For its half, the Biden administration had largely blamed the primary Trump administration for leaving it ill-equipped to satisfy the withdrawal deadline.
Critics additionally level out that tons of of 1000’s of Afghan residents who labored for US forces and on US-backed tasks nonetheless stay in Afghanistan, in peril of retribution from the Taliban.
Others dwell in precarious conditions in refugee camps, together with in neighbouring Pakistan.
An estimated 10,000 Afghans who had been accepted to journey to the US discovered themselves stranded after Trump suspended the refugee programme in January.
Advocacy teams have urged the Trump administration to reverse course and make sure the refugees are transported to security.
“President Trump campaigned on a bunch of stuff associated to Afghanistan, significantly how dangerous the withdrawal was,” Shawn VanDiver, the founding father of #AfghanEvac, an organisation that helps Afghan resettlement, instructed Al Jazeera final month.
“So I simply don’t consider that he would do this after which not attempt to assist our allies. I’m simply hoping it is a mistake.”
In his assertion on Thursday, Rubio acknowledged different US residents are nonetheless being held by the Taliban. US officers say they embrace Afghan American businessman Mahmood Habibi. The Taliban has denied holding Habibi.
“President Trump will proceed his tireless work to free ALL Individuals unjustly detained all over the world,” Rubio stated.
