Taliban releases US citizen after visit by envoy

Afghanistan's ruling Taliban released another US citizen from custody on Sunday after a visit by Washington's hostage envoy Adam Boehler, the US 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 Reuters, asking not to be identified by name or nationality.

Boehler's visit came a week after US 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 does not.

Amiri was the fifth US citizen freed by the Taliban this year thanks to Qatari mediation, including earlier in September a British couple held for eight months, the source said.

"I want to thank Qatar for helping secure his freedom," US 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."

The Bagram base targeted by Trump was used by US forces after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. It was among bases the Islamist Taliban movement took over after the withdrawal of American forces in 2021 and toppling of the US-backed government in Kabul.