Afghanistan i The Taliban The family of one of the three Americans held by the U.S. has urged Washington to confirm his whereabouts.
Mahmoud Shah Habibi, a 37-year-old American citizen born in Afghanistan, was working for an American telecommunications company when he was captured by the Taliban in August 2022 after the death of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike.
The Taliban likely assumed that Habibi’s former employer, the US Federal Aviation Administration, was involved in the attack, but did not press charges against him.
Former CIA spy Sarah Adams recently claimed, without providing evidence, that Mr Habibi had been handed over to al-Qaeda by the Taliban and was likely to be executed soon.
His family says they have not received any such information from Kabul or the US State Department.
Habibi’s brother Ahmad Shah Habibi told The Independent that ‘I do not agree with the reports that the Taliban have handed over my brother to Al-Qaeda. To my knowledge, the Taliban have them. They took her in August 202222 and she is still there.
The US government should confirm such reports and confirm whether the Taliban have handed over my brother to Al-Qaeda or not.
“In the history of Taliban rule, we have not seen any case where they have handed over a prisoner to another group,” he said. We have not received any official communication from the US government or the Taliban. I hope it’s just a rumour.’
The FBI issued a notice last month seeking information about Habibi’s disappearance in Afghanistan. “It is believed that Habibi was abducted by the Taliban or security forces and has not been heard from since his disappearance,” the statement said.
Ahmad Shah Habibi urged the US government to redouble efforts to free his brother and said the Taliban had expressed willingness to exchange US prisoners.
The Taliban claim that they have arrested only two Americans, Ryan Corbett and George Glazeman, for violating the country’s laws. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid hinted earlier this year that they were holding them in exchange for Afghans held by the US at Guantanamo Bay.
The Taliban deny keeping Habibi in custody.
Ahmad Shah Habibi said, “I think the Taliban want three people.” One is in Guantanamo Bay and two are in the United States. I don’t know who they are talking about in America, but the American government has to do more to get my brother released.’
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He said that since his disappearance in Afghanistan, his family has no contact with Habibi. ‘I don’t know why they are not recognizing my brother when they detained him on August 10, 2022.’
Mahmood Shah Habibi served as director of civil aviation and deputy minister of civil aviation in the NATO-backed Afghan government that was ousted by the Taliban in 2021.
His brother told The Independent that it is possible that he was arrested because he worked with the previous government and worked with the US embassy in Afghanistan between 2011 and 2013. We believe that his work for the US government and his US citizenship have put him in trouble.’
Habibi’s arrest was identified in March by the US Congress in a resolution calling for his release.
His brother denied that Mahmoud Shah Habibi was in any way involved in the US attack that killed al-Zawahiri. He said, ‘My brother had nothing to do with it, my brother was not even on Afghan soil when the attack happened.’
Habibi said some employees of his brother’s company told him that the Taliban had questioned him about two towers near the site of the drone strike.
He said, ‘My brother worked with a telecommunications company that had towers all over Afghanistan, about 600 in total. The cameras on the towers were installed to protect them and not the common citizens. It was not my brother’s decision as to where to install the tower or the cameras. He was just one of the 1,200 employees, working as a consultant.’
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2024-09-28 06:47:13
