Two British nationals and their Afghan translator were detained in her earlier this year, after a British national and their Afghan translator, an American woman was released by the Taliban, according to sources familiar with the matter.
“Faye Hall, a U.S. citizen just issued by the Taliban, is now in the care of our friend, Kataris of Kabul and will be on the way home soon,” he said. Zalmay KhalilzadHe was part of the U.S. delegation, engaged in the release of the Taliban hostages and wrote on X.
Hall was detained in February with Peter and Barbie Reynolds of the 1970s, who headed to the British couple's home in central Bamiyan Province. CBS News learned that Reynolds remained in the Taliban.
Sources told CBS News that Hall was charged with unauthorized use of the drone.
Qatari diplomatic information
Hall was released on Thursday as part of a deal that Katari negotiators helped brokers, sources said. After a series of medical examinations, she is in “physical health”.
Taliban ambassador to Qatar Suhail Shaheen told CBS News that Hall was released in a “good manner.”
“For bilateral relations, this gesture pays off,” Shahin said. “In fact, after our country is liberated, we are in a new stage of reconstruction in Afghanistan. We want to establish positive relations with the United States and other countries. This is an area that needs to be explored.”
Khalilzad announced his departure from Afghanistan, smiling with the Qatar representative before she left Afghanistan.
CBS News has commented to the U.S. State Department.
Qatari diplomatic information
Reynolds married in Kabul in 1970, where he carried out an 18-year school training program. Hall is a friend of Reynolds and visited them in Afghanistan in February and helped them in the education and training business.
Renault is the parent of two American citizens.
Their daughter expressed serious fear of the father's health and called on the Taliban authorities to release them. In 2021, after the British Embassy withdrew its staff, they remained in Afghanistan after the Taliban took over.
Khalilzad had met with Taliban authorities in a rare occasion in U.S. officials and accompanied U.S. hostage envoy Adam Boehler.
After visit, the Taliban government announced the release of U.S. citizens George Glezmann After a Qatar agreement. Atlanta's Glezmann was detained after being detained by Taliban authorities during a travel visit to Afghanistan in December 2022.
The U.S. government has said that Griezmann was wrongly detained by the Taliban. Khalilzad called Glezmann's “good-willing gesture” to President Trump.
Glezmann and Hall are two of several Americans to be released from Taliban custody this year.
Two Americans Detained in Afghanistan – Ryan Corbett and William McKenty Release in January In exchange for Taliban figures who were imprisoned in California for drug trafficking and terrorism allegations.
There is at least one American citizen. Mahmood Habibistill held in Afghanistan. The United States said Habibi, who has dual U.S. and Afghan citizenship, has been “unjustly held” since 2022.
In the FBI's public notice issued in August 2024, the agency said that “believe” that Habibi was issued by the Taliban military or security forces, “has not heard since he disappeared.” The FBI said in the notice that Habibi was working as a contractor for a telecommunications company in Kabul when he disappeared.
The Taliban still says they have no Habibi in detention.
“No, we don't have him,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told CBS News in January.
The Kabul government has not been recognized by any country, but some governments including Russia, China and Türkiye have made their embassies open in the Afghan capital.
Since Trump's re-election, the Kabul administration has expressed a “new chapter” to Washington.
Camilla Schick and Ahmad Mukhtar contributed to the report.
