Two Americans freed by Taliban in 'goodwill gesture'

The Taliban in Afghanistan has released two American nationals in what appears to be a "goodwill gesture", the State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, adding that they will soon be reunited with their loved ones.

Speaking at a daily press briefing on Tuesday, Price said Washington was continuing to raise with the Taliban the need to release any US nationals detained in Afghanistan but declined to provide who they may be and how many people may be held there.

"This, we understand, to have been a goodwill gesture on the part of the Taliban. This was not part of any swap of prisoners or detainees. There was no money that exchanged hands," State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Tuesday.

The two Americans were released to Qatar, which has played a key role in supporting US interests in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover.

Price said that confidentiality rules forbade him from offering more details on the two Americans.

CNN reported that one of them was Ivor Shearer, a filmmaker arrested in August with his Afghan producer -- whose fate is unclear -- while filming the site of a US drone attack that killed Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri.

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'It's not lost on us'

The release came on the same day the Taliban banned women from universities, drawing strong condemnation from the United States, which warned it would impose costs.

"The irony of them granting us a goodwill gesture on a day where they undertake a gesture like this to the Afghan people, it's not lost on us." Price said.

"But it is a question for the Taliban themselves regarding the timing of this."

The United States has repeatedly condemned the Taliban's track record since they swept back to power last year when President Joe Biden pulled out US troops, leading the two-decade-old Western-backed government to collapse.

But the Biden administration said that the Taliban were largely helpful during the takeover in letting out US citizens.

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