Taliban releases two American prisoners held in Afghanistan as 'goodwill ... trends now
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Two Americans detained in Afghanistan were released on Tuesday in what US officials described as a ‘goodwill gesture’.
The U.S. citizens are believed to have arrived in Qatar on Tuesday to be reunited with their families. It is not yet clear what efforts were taken to secure their return home.
Officials declined to give the names of the prisoners released out of respect for their privacy.
But sources told CNN that one of the Americans let go is Ivor Shearer, a filmmaker who was arrested in August while in the area where al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed by a U.S. drone. CNN said it was withholding the name of the second prisoner at the request of the family.
Ned Price, the State Department spokesman, said the release was not part of a prisoner exchange and that no money was paid.
