KABUL, Afghanistan — The brother of Mahmood Shah Habibi, an Afghan American detained by the Taliban, said in an interview with Amu that despite two years of effort, the family has received no information about his whereabouts.
Ahmad Shah Habibi emphasized that the family has met with several senior U.S. officials, human rights organizations, and Taliban leaders in an attempt to secure Mahmood’s release or at least ascertain his status. However, all efforts have been in vain, and they remain in the dark about his fate.
The Taliban have neither confirmed nor denied the arrest of Mahmood Shah Habibi, who served as the head of Afghanistan’s Civil Aviation Authority under the previous government. The U.S. State Department has acknowledged that he is one of three Americans being held by the Taliban.
Mahmood Shah Habibi led the Civil Aviation Authority from May 2017 to February 2019. According to sources, he was detained by the Taliban on August 10, 2022.
His arrest is reportedly linked to the killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the former leader of Al Qaeda, in Kabul’s Sherpur neighborhood on July 31, 2022. Official sources have described the reasons for his detention as unclear.
Ahmad Shah Habibi stated that the Taliban initially acknowledged holding Mahmood but have since denied it. He added that over the past two years, the family has met with various senior Taliban officials, human rights organizations, and U.S. officials, but their efforts have yielded no results.
The Taliban have yet to make any formal statement regarding Mahmood Shah Habibi’s detention or the charges against him. Ahmad Shah Habibi stressed that the Taliban have not provided any clarity on why his brother was arrested.
Ahmad Shah Habibi also noted that around the same time Mahmood was detained, some employees of his tech company, which he established after the fall of the previous government, were also arrested by the Taliban. According to some of the released employees, the Taliban questioned them about the killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri.
On July 31, 2022, the United States announced that it had killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of Al Qaeda, in a drone strike in Sherpur, Kabul. Some sources have claimed that the Taliban suspect Mahmood Shah Habibi of collaborating with the Americans to locate al-Zawahiri, an accusation his brother denies.
In addition to Mahmood Shah Habibi, two other American citizens, Ryan Corbett and George Gouldsman, are also reportedly being held by the Taliban.
