Politics | 2 Americans Held in Afghanistan Are Freed in Prisoner Swap
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In exchange, the Biden administration released an Afghan man convicted on narcotics charges in 2008.
The Taliban flag at the site of the former American embassy grounds in Kabul in 2022. Credit… Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times Jan. 21, 2025
In one of its final acts, the Biden administration secured the release of two Americans held in Afghanistan in a prisoner swap for a Taliban member imprisoned in the United States on narcotics charges.
The Taliban government freed Ryan Corbett and William Wallace McKenty in exchange for Khan Mohammed, who was released from a U.S. federal prison.
President Joseph R. Biden Jr. issued a conditional commutation to Mr. Mohammed before he left office, though officials did not disclose the order until Mr. McKenty and Mr. Corbett were freed.
Mr. Corbett’s case had received public attention. His wife, Anna, visited with Donald J. Trump this month at Mar-a-Lago and had a call with Mr. Biden. His family released a statement after midnight on Tuesday praising both the Trump and Biden administrations for making the exchange.
Mr. Corbett, 42, had long lived in Afghanistan until the fall of the U.S.-backed government in 2021. He had returned to the country to help the microlending and consulting business he had created when he was taken captive in the country’s north.
Far less was known about Mr. McKenty, 69, whose family had asked the U.S. government to keep his identity private.
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