By The release of Amir Amiri, who was on his way back to the United States on Sunday, is the fifth US citizen to be freed by Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers, who returned to power in August 2021 after the withdrawal of US-led forces from the country after 20 years of occupation and war.
DUBAI, Sept 28 (AfrikTimes) – Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban released another U.S. citizen from custody on Sunday after a visit by Washington’s hostage envoy Adam Boehler, the U.S. government said.
Amir Amiri, who had been detained in Afghanistan since December 2024, was released through Qatari mediation and was on his way to Doha on Sunday evening, an official source told AfrikTimes, asking not to be identified by name or nationality.
Boehler’s visit came a week after U.S. President Donald Trump urged the Taliban to give back control of Bagram air base to the United States, threatening “bad things” would happen to Afghanistan if it refused.
Amiri is the fifth American released by the Taliban this year with Qatar’s help, alongside a British couple held for eight months, the source said.
“I want to thank Qatar for helping secure his freedom,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X, confirming the release. “POTUS (the president) has made it clear we will not stop until every American unjustly detained abroad is back home.”
Amir Amiri, who had been detained in Afghanistan since December 2024, poses for a picture alongside Adam Boehler, the U.S. special envoy for hostage response, Sebastian Gorka, the deputy assistant to the U.S. president and senior director for counterterrorism, Qatari diplomats and others before boarding a plane in Kabul Afghanistan, September 28, 2025 in this handout image. Qatari Diplomat.
In a statement, the brother of still-detained Ahmad Habibi said that he has received repeated assurances from the administration that any deal with the Taliban would be an “all or nothing” agreement and Habibi would not be left behind.
“The Biden Administration did nothing for us. We have faith in President Trump,” Ahmad’s brother, Mahmood Habibi, said.
Afghanistan’s Taliban government denies it detained Habibi, who was a former head of Afghanistan’s civil aviation authority.
Bagram air base, which Trump has demanded be returned, was used by U.S. forces following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. It was among the military installations seized by the Taliban after the U.S. withdrawal in 2021 and the collapse of the U.S.-backed Kabul government.
Trump’s goal of re-occupying Bagram air base in Afghanistan might end up looking like a re-invasion of the country, requiring more than 10,000 troops as well as deployment of advanced air defenses, officials have told AfrikTimes.
George Glezmann, shown here in an undated file photo, was held in Afghanistan for more than two years before being released on Thursday, March 20, 2025.
