KABUL (Anadolu) – The Afghan Taliban on Saturday confirmed negotiations with the U.S. for a prisoner swap deal but said it yielded no result yet, according to local media.
Afghan Taliban deputy spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said that negotiations are still underway, Tolo News reported.
Earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported that the outgoing Biden administration is in secret talks with the Taliban over a prisoner swap deal that would see Americans held in Afghanistan set free in exchange for the release of at least one Guantanamo Bay prisoner.
The talks, which have been going on since July, crossed a threshold in November when the Biden administration proposed the release of Muhammad Rahim al-Afghani, an alleged aide to slain Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden, in exchange for the release of three Americans seized in Afghanistan in 2022 -- George Glezmann, Ryan Corbett, and Mahmoud Habibi.
The Taliban proposed instead that the U.S. release Rahim and two unspecified others for the release of Glezmann and Corbett. The group denies having Habibi in custody.