An American woman who had been held in Afghanistan by the Taliban for a month has been released, officials say.
Faye Hall was captured in February and accused of using a drone without authorization, an anonymous U.S. official told The Associated Press. It remained unclear why she was in Afghanistan in the first place.
Hall’s release was not part of any prisoner exchange. It was negotiated in part by representatives from Qatar, who have worked as intermediaries between the U.S. and the Taliban.
“American citizen Faye Hall, just released by the Taliban, is now in the care of our friends, the Qataris in Kabul, and will soon be on her way home,” former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad wrote Saturday on social media.
Four Americans have now been released by the Taliban in 2025. In apparent exchange, the U.S. released one man, Khan Mohammed, who had been sentenced to life in prison for narcoterrorism.
Additionally, the U.S. dropped bounties on three senior Taliban leaders — Sirajuddin Haqqani, Abdul Aziz Haqqani and Yahya Haqqani — who were known for attacks on the old U.S.-backed Afghan government.
Sirajuddin Haqqani is the country’s interior minister; he publicly admitted to planning a 2008 attack on a Kabul hotel that killed six people, including American citizen Thor David Hesla.
In addition to Hall, the Taliban have released American citizens Ryan Corbett, William McKenty and George Glezmann.
With News Wire Services
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