The Taliban said they are engaged in discussions with the United States over detained American citizens and are seeking a resolution, responding to recent remarks by US officials that the Taliban are using prisoners as bargaining chips.
“We are in talks with the Americans on this matter, and solutions are being explored,” Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s spokesman, said in an audio statement broadcast by state-run national TV.
His remarks came after Don Brown, the US chargé d’affaires for Afghanistan, based in Doha, Qatar, said the Taliban continue to use detainees as leverage in negotiations against the United States and other countries.
“The international community must hold the Taliban accountable for these deplorable tactics,” he said on X.
US officials have identified two American citizens, Dennis Coyle and Mahmood Shah Habibi, as being held by the Taliban. Coyle, 64, a linguistics researcher and university professor who has been detained for about a year, and Mahmood Shah Habibi, who was arrested in Kabul in August 2022 and whose whereabouts remain unclear.
Adam Boehler, the US special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, has previously warned that the Taliban must end what he called all forms of hostage-taking.
Sebastian Gorka, a deputy assistant to President Donald Trump, has also said the president expects the Taliban to stop kidnappings and hostage-taking or face consequences.
