The US authorities released Afghan Assadullah Haroon from a US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and handed him over to representatives of the radical Taliban movement (banned in Russia) who had taken power in Afghanistan. Zabihullah Mujahid, Deputy Minister of Culture and Information of the Taliban's interim government.
"Assadulah Haroon <...> has been released from Guantanamo and handed over to the 'Islamic Emirate' [Afghanistan] (the name of the state used by the Taliban - TASS note)," Mujahid said in a statement posted on Friday on the Twitter page of one of the new Afghan authorities, Inamullah Samangani. It noted that Haroon was released as a result of "direct and positive interaction with the US".
"We are currently keeping in touch with some countries where Afghans are detained under various pretexts. Efforts are being made for their immediate release. <...> Today we see Assadulah Haroon released from Guantanamo and years later reunited with his family. In this regard, we thank the brotherly country of Qatar," Mujahid said in the statement. No further details of Haroon's detention in the US prison were given.
The Taliban movement launched a massive operation to take control of Afghanistan after the US announced in spring 2021 that it had decided to withdraw its military forces from the country. On 15 August, the Taliban entered Kabul without any fight and President Ashraf Ghani left the Republic, on 7 September, radicals announced an interim government whose legitimacy has not yet been recognized by any country.
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Based on materials from TASS