The Taliban have released an American citizen, Faye Hall, after being detained in January of this year. Hall had been detained with two Britons and their Afghan translator for allegedly using a drone without authorization. She was the fourth United States citizen to be released by the Taliban this year as part of agreements arranged by Qatar. 

Zalmay Khalilzad, a part of the U.S. delegation working on Taliban captive releases, wrote that “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,” recently on the X platform. In addition, President Donald Trump released a video of Hall on his Truth Social account. In the video, she stated that she had voted for Trump twice and gave many thanks to the President, “thank you for bringing me home, and I’ve never been so proud to be an American citizen.” 

There is a fundamental challenge working with the Taliban government because supporting Afghans and assisting is difficult without possible actions that could support the Taliban. There will be a need for new solutions to give Afghanistan financial assistance to boost humanitarian aid without risk aversion and benefiting the Taliban government. New foreign policies for Afghanistan will need to be formed to deal with the Taliban. The U.S. and other countries are working together to continue to push for a more inclusive government and, therefore, a more free government. 

The release of Hall came days after the release of George Glezmann, an American detained in Afghanistan for more than two years by the Taliban. His release was called a “goodwill gesture” by the Taliban in cooperation with the U.S. “on the basis of mutual respect and interests.” The Taliban had previously called the release of U.S. detainees a “normalization” effort. The Taliban has been in power in Afghanistan since August 2021. No country recognizes the Taliban government; however, several countries continue to broker diplomatic talks through Qatar with the militant group. 

In short, immense reform is needed within the Taliban government. Working together with Qatar, the U.S. and allies have managed to bring home a few detainees. More of these peaceful exchanges and handovers can bring every detainee home peacefully. There is a long road ahead, but with diplomacy, political environments in Afghanistan can begin to shift.