Taliban announce the release of two Americans held in Afghanistan in a prisoner exchange

ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s Taliban government announced on Tuesday the release of two Americans in a prisoner exchange.

The Taliban’s Foreign Ministry in Kabul did not name the two U.S. citizens, but said they were exchanged for Khan Muhammad, who was arrested in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar two decades ago and has been serving a life sentence in a California prison.

The ministry said the exchange was the result of “long and fruitful negotiations” with the U.S. and was a good example of solving problems through dialogue.

“The Islamic Emirate looks positively at the actions of the United States of America that help the normalization and development of relations between the two countries,” the statement said.

Last week, then-President Joe Biden spoke with relatives of three Americans the U.S. government was attempting to bring home from Afghanistan, but there was no deal to get them back at that time, family members said.