The release of Mahmood Shah Habibi, an Afghan American, was the central focus of a US delegation’s visit to Kabul on Saturday, Habibi’s brother told Amu TV.
Ahmad Shah Habibi said the State Department informed the family in advance that freeing his brother was the delegation’s top priority. Mahmood Shah Habibi, a dual US-Afghan citizen, was detained in Kabul in August 2022 and has remained in Taliban custody for more than three years.
“The main agenda of this U.S. delegation was my brother’s case,” Ahmad Shah Habibi said. “They wanted to push the Taliban to release him.”
The delegation — led by Adam Boehler, US envoy on detainees, and Zalmay Khalilzad, the former U.S. envoy for Afghan peace talks — held meetings with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and deputy chief minister Abdul Ghani Baradar. Video released by the Taliban showed Baradar warmly embracing Khalilzad.
The Taliban said the discussions also touched on broader issues, including economic cooperation and potential U.S. investment in Afghanistan’s mineral sector. In a statement, the group said Baradar urged Washington to “focus on engagement rather than confrontation” and to support reconstruction efforts.
This was the second trip to Kabul by a U.S. delegation since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. It comes amid growing frustration in Washington over what U.S. officials see as the Taliban’s slow response on human rights and hostage issues. Reuters, citing a U.S. official, reported that the administration has grown weary of the delays.
Both the Biden and Trump administrations have made hostage recovery a central foreign policy objective. In recent years, five Americans have been freed in exchanges involving Taliban prisoners, including Bashir Noorzai for Mark Frerichs, and Khan Mohammad in return for Ryan Corbett and William McGinty. In April 2025, the Taliban released George Golesman in what they described as a goodwill gesture.
Last week, Trump signed an executive order authorizing the State Department to blacklist countries that “wrongfully detain” U.S. citizens, potentially subjecting them to severe sanctions. Afghanistan, China and Iran are among the nations under consideration, according to a senior U.S. adviser.
The Justice Department has also offered a reward of up to $5 million for information about Mahmood Shah Habibi’s whereabouts.
Taliban officials have not publicly commented on his case. However, U.S. media outlets, citing Taliban sources, have reported discussions about a potential prisoner exchange. One possible candidate is Mohammed Rahim al-Afghani, a former aide to Osama bin Laden who remains in U.S. custody at Guantánamo Bay.
