The Taliban says 2 Americans have been released in a prisoner swap with the US, and Ryan Corbett’s family says he is one of them.

Islamabad, Pakistan – Exchange of prisoners between the United States and The Taliban regime that rules Afghanistan saw two Americans released in exchange for a Taliban man serving a life sentence in California on drug-trafficking and terrorism charges, officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday. In a statement, the family of Ryan Corbett, an American man caught by the Taliban starting in the summer of 2022, he said he was released as part of the deal.

The Taliban-controlled Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the exchange, saying two US citizens had been exchanged for Khan Mohammed, who was sentenced to two life terms in the US in 2008. The Taliban did not say whether the Americans were released in the deal.

Corbett, who lived in Afghanistan with his family during the 2021 fall of the US-backed governmentwas kidnapped by the Taliban in August 2022 while on a business trip.

The deal, the terms of which were not immediately confirmed by US officials, came as former President Joe Biden, who presided Chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistangave power to President Trump returned. Corbett’s family members were on stage Monday with Mr. Trump at his inauguration Washington, and family members of Israel’s captors who was in Gaza.

Corbett was considered by the US government to have been wrongfully detained by the Taliban, and negotiations were underway in the final days of the Biden administration about the trade but failed.

The Taliban have hailed the exchange as a step towards “freezing” relations between the US and Afghanistan, but that is still a long way off as most countries in the world have yet to recognize military rule.

“Our hearts are filled with deep gratitude and praise to God for sustaining Ryan’s life and bringing him home after 894 challenging and uncertain days of our lives,” the Corbett family said in their statement. They both thanked Mr. Trump and Biden, along with many officials from both administrations, for their efforts to free him.

Corbett’s family also praised the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar for its “significant role in facilitating Ryan’s release, and their visit to Ryan as the United States’ Protecting Power in Afghanistan.”

Energy-rich Qatar, which has hosted talks between the US and the Taliban for years, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Both CNN and the New York Times, relying on anonymous US officials, identified the second American released as William McKenty, although no further details have emerged about who he is or what he was doing in Afghanistan.

Mohammed, 55, was a prisoner in California after being convicted in 2008. The Bureau of Prisons early Tuesday listed Mohammed as out of their custody.

Mohammed was detained on the battlefield in the province of Afghanistan, Nangarhar and later taken to the US A federal judge convicted him of receiving heroin and opium that he knew was going to the United States and, in doing so, of aiding a terrorist activity.

The Justice Department at the time called Mohammed a “violent jihadist and drug trafficker” who “wanted to kill US troops in Afghanistan using rockets.” He was the first person to be convicted under US narco-terrorism laws.

Before Biden left office, his administration was trying to work out a deal to release Corbett along with George Glezmann and Mahmood Habibi in exchange for Muhammad Rahim, one of the remaining detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

Last week, Biden spoke with the relatives of the three Americans although there was no agreement to return them at the time, family members said.

Glezmann, an aircraft mechanic from Atlanta, was captured by Taliban intelligence in December 2022 while traveling across the country. Habibi, an Afghan American businessman who worked as a contractor for a communications company based in Kabul, also disappeared in 2022. The Taliban denies having Habibi.

It is not clear whether one of the two men was the same one who was said to have been released by the Taliban on Tuesday. Officials in Washington did not respond to requests for comment early Tuesday after Mr. Trump’s inauguration. Trump the day before.

“We hoped that Ryan, George and Mahmoud would be returned to their families together, and we cannot imagine the pain that our luck will bring,” said the Corbett family. “We recognize the great privilege of our family being reunited today, and we promise that we will continue to pray – and fight – for George and Mahmoud’s immediate release.”

The Taliban called the exchange the result of “long and fruitful talks” with the US and said it was a good example of resolving issues through dialogue.

“The Islamic Emirate looks favorably on the actions of the United States of America that help normalize and develop relations between the two countries,” he said.

The Taliban have been trying to get into the street for recognition, in part to escape the economic tailwind caused by their takeover. Billions came in international funds were suspended and tens of thousands of highly skilled Afghans fled the country taking their money with them.