A prisoner swap closes one chapter in US-Taliban talks

Two Americans held in Afghanistan have been released in exchange for a Taliban fighter serving a life sentence in the United States, in a prisoner swap brokered by Qatar and finalised in the last hours of Joe Biden's presidency.

Afghan authorities said Khan Mohammad, who had been imprisoned in California on drug trafficking charges after being extradited nearly two decades ago, was freed and sent back to Afghanistan as part of the deal. The US Justice Department had previously described him as a violent jihadist and narcotics trafficker who sought to attack US soldiers with rockets.

The two Americans freed in the exchange were Ryan Corbett and William McKenty. Corbett had been held since 2022 after being abducted during a business trip, and his family said it was overwhelmed with gratitude after what it described as 894 days of uncertainty.

The release leaves two other Americans, George Glezmann and Mahmood Habibi, still in Taliban custody. The Biden administration had been trying to trade for Muhammad Rahim, one of the remaining detainees at Guantanamo Bay, which shows that the swap was part of a wider, unfinished diplomatic effort rather than a one-off deal.

Qatar's role mattered because it provided the channel through which the sides could talk without formal recognition. The Taliban, for its part, called the talks long and fruitful and said it looked positively on US actions that could help normalise relations between the two sides.

The swap is a reminder that hostage diplomacy remains one of the few areas where the US and Taliban can still reach a result. Even so, the release does not mean trust has been rebuilt. It only shows that, under pressure, both sides can still find a transactional bargain.

Qatar's mediation matters because it has become one of the few channels where Washington and the Taliban can still strike a deal without formal recognition. That makes the swap important not just for the two freed Americans but for the mechanics of any future release negotiations.

The exchange also shows how unfinished the broader detainee picture remains. With two Americans still held and a Guantanamo prisoner still part of the wider bargaining frame, this was a breakthrough, but not a settlement.

The prisoner exchange offers a rare concrete result in an otherwise frozen relationship. Even so, the fact that other Americans remain held shows how dependent progress is on a narrow set of intermediaries, conditions and timing.