Detained US national Faye Hall is released by the Taliban

(Reuters) Former US Ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said on Saturday that an American national who had been held by the Taliban government in Afghanistan for a month had been freed.

“American citizen Faye Hall, just released by the Taliban, is now in the care of our friends, the Qataris in Kabul, and will soon be on her way home,” Khalilzad announced on X.

The State Department would not immediately confirm or comment. No more information was provided by Khalilzad, a former US Permanent Representative to the UN. A photo of Hall seated between two men was uploaded by him.

Hall, who had been held in Afghanistan since February, was released on Thursday after a court ruling and with logistical assistance from Qatar, the United States’ protecting power in Afghanistan, according to a person with knowledge of the release.

According to the source, Hall was greeted at the Qatari embassy in Kabul and, following a battery of medical examinations, was found to be in good health. Plans were also in place for her to return to the United States.

Hall and Barbie and Peter Reynolds, a British couple, were also taken into custody.

According to British media, the pair, who are in their eighties, had been working on educational projects in Afghanistan for eighteen years before choosing to stay when the Taliban took over.

The pair, whose family has begged for their release due to health concerns, were not mentioned in Khalilzad’s tweet.