KABUL, Afghanistan — Two Taliban members, previously detained at Guantanamo Bay and then in Oman for seven years, arrived in Kabul on Monday.
The Taliban announced on Sunday that Oman had lifted restrictions on Abdul Zahir Sabir and Abdul Karim, who had been in Oman since their release from Guantanamo.
Matin Qanay, a spokesman for the Taliban’s Interior Ministry, said Sabir and Karim were under surveillance in Oman. Sabir, from Hisarak district in Logar province, was captured by U.S. forces in May 2002 and held at Bagram prison in Parwan province before being transferred to Guantanamo in October 2002. He was released from Guantanamo on Jan. 16, 2017.
Karim was arrested by Pakistani forces on Aug. 14, 2002, and transferred to Guantanamo in early 2003, where he spent 14 years. Both men were subject to a travel ban in Oman, Qanay noted.
All restrictions on them have been lifted, and their return was celebrated in Kabul, where banners featuring their photos have been displayed.
