An American woman detained in Afghanistan has been released by the Taliban, according to a social media post on Saturday by a former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq, just days after the United States removed multimillion-dollar bounties from the heads of three senior Taliban officials.
Faye Hall, the released American citizen, was pictured sitting on a couch between two men and smiling in a social media post on X by Zalmay Khalilzad, the former ambassador. Mr. Khalizad said that Ms. Hall “is now in the care of our friends, the Qataris in Kabul, and will soon be on her way home.”
He also shared what he said was a video of Ms. Hall professing support for President Trump and thanking the president for her release.
President Trump reposted the video on Saturday on his social media site, Truth Social, thanking Ms. Hall and adding that he was “so honored” by her words.
Ms. Hall was arrested in early February, British media reported, along with a British couple and an interpreter. The couple, Peter and Barbie Reynolds, who were both in their seventies, had run educational and training projects in the country for eighteen years, according to British media. Ms. Hall was said to be a friend of the couple.
The British couple has not been released, according to British media. A daughter of the Reynolds said that Afghan guards had to use force to separate Ms. Hall from Ms. Reynolds when they removed Ms. Hall from detention because the two women had vowed that all four in their group would be released together.
The White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this month, a U.S. hostage envoy, Adam Boehler, made the first known visit by a high-ranking American diplomat to Kabul, the Afghan capital, since the Taliban seized power in 2021. His talks with Taliban representatives led to the release of George Glezmann, an American citizen who had been detained in Afghanistan for more than two years.
Days later, the United States lifted multimillion-dollar bounties on three leaders of the Haqqani network, the only wing of the Taliban to be classified by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization. Members of the Haqqani network were behind some of the deadliest attacks during the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, but they have refashioned themselves as a more moderate voice within the Taliban.
Many Taliban officials saw Mr. Boehler’s visit and the bounty lifting as a significant victory for Afghanistan’s government, which was almost totally shut out by the Biden administration. The new measures also benefit a Taliban faction that has pushed to curtail extreme and inflexible policies to achieve more global acceptance.
In the video posted by Mr. Trump, Ms. Hall also said other women detained in the Afghanistan jail saw Mr. Trump as a “savior,” adding in her address to him, “they’re waiting for you to come and set them free.”
Mr. Trump’s post did not include any details about the release.
Erica L. Green and Christina Goldbaum contributed reporting.
Eve Sampson is a reporter covering international news and a member of the 2024-25 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers. More about Eve Sampson
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