A prisoner swap between the United States and the Afghan Taliban has freed two Americans in exchange for a Taliban figure serving a life sentence in California on drug trafficking and terrorism charges.

The Taliban hailed the exchange as a step toward "normalizing" relations between the United States and Afghanistan, but that may still be a difficult task as most of the world still does not recognize their rule and two other Americans are believed to have been arrested. imprisoned.

The Taliban foreign ministry in Kabul confirmed the exchange, saying the two U.S. citizens had been exchanged for Khan Mohammed, who was sentenced to two life sentences in 2008.

The family of American Ryan Corbett, who was held by the Taliban, confirmed in a statement that he had been released. Corbett was living with his family in Afghanistan when the U.S.-backed government collapsed in 2021 and was detained by the Taliban in August 2022 while on a business trip.

"Our hearts are filled with overwhelming gratitude and praise to God for keeping Ryan alive and bringing him back after 894 of the most challenging and uncertain days of our lives," the family said in a statement. Home." They thanked Donald Trump and Joe Biden and many government officials for their efforts to free him.

Corbett's family also praised the Middle Eastern country of Qatar for "playing an important role in facilitating Ryan's release."

Both CNN and The New York Times identified the second American freed as William McKenty, but did not reveal anything about his identity or what he was doing in Afghanistan. Other details.

Muhammad, 55, was imprisoned in California after his 2008 conviction. Earlier Tuesday, the Bureau of Prisons listed Muhammad as not in custody.

Taliban deputy foreign ministry spokesman Hafiz Zia Ahmed Thakar said Mohammad had arrived in Afghanistan and was with his family. Photos released by the Taliban showed him being welcomed with colorful garlands when he returned to his home province of Nangarhar.

Muhammad said he spent time in prison at Bagram Air Force Base and in Washington, D.C.

"It's a pleasure to meet your family and come to your homeland. The greatest joy is to come to your Muslim brothers," he said.

He was detained on the battlefield in Nangarhar and later brought to the United States. A federal jury convicted him of obtaining heroin and opium that he knew would be shipped to the United States and assisting terrorism.

At the time, the Justice Department called Muhammad a "violent jihadist and drug trafficker" who "tried to kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan with rockets." He is the first person to be convicted under U.S. narco-terrorism laws.

Ahmed Rashid, the author of several books on Afghanistan and the Taliban, described Mohammed as "the largest drug smuggler and the Taliban's main financier that the United States has to deal with."

Before Biden left office, his administration had been trying to reach a deal to release Corbett, Georges Griezmann and Mahmoud Habibie in exchange for Mohamed Rahi, one of the remaining Guantanamo Bay detainees. Mu.

Glaizman, an airline mechanic from Atlanta, was taken away by Taliban intelligence services in December 2022 while traveling through the country. Habibi, an Afghan-American businessman who worked as a contractor for a telecommunications company in Kabul, also disappeared in 2022. The Taliban deny possessing Habibie.

The Taliban called the exchange the result of "long and productive negotiations" with the United States and said it was a good example of solving problems through dialogue.

"The Islamic Emirate views positively the actions of the United States of America that contribute to the normalization and development of relations between the two countries," the statement said.