Taliban have agreed to release an American citizen detained in Afghanistan in exchange for an aide of Osama bin Laden, the late al-Qaeda leader, Al-Arabiya reported, citing sources.
Mohammad Rahim Haqmal Afghani, identified as bin Laden’s assistant, was arrested in Pakistan in 2007 and transferred to Guantanamo Bay prison in 2008.
The American, Ryan Corbett, was detained by the Taliban in August 2022. Corbett had lived in Afghanistan with his family for over a decade before the country’s previous regime fell.
Last week, U.S. House Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Michael McCaul called for Corbett’s release, along with other Americans held in Taliban prisons.
Al-Arabiya reported that the prisoner exchange is scheduled for Monday.
