US Counterterrorism Official Says Release of American Detainees Priority, Islamic Emirate Aware

Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to President Donald Trump and senior director for counterterrorism at the White House National Security Council, stated that from the first day of Trump's second term, the release of all American hostages and unjustly detained U.S. citizens has been the administration's top priority.

Gorka said this includes innocent Americans like Dennis Quail, noting that the president has returned 101 U.S. citizens alive to the country so far. "We will never stop our efforts to free them and the Taliban are fully aware of this," he added.

Political expert Idris Mohammadi Zazi commented that the time has come to resolve the issue of prisoners between Afghanistan and the United States through dialogue and diplomacy. He said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is striving to free some detainees held in U.S. prisons, and the U.S. should act diplomatically to create a joint plan for prisoner releases.

Military expert Mohammad Zalmai Afghaniyar told ToloNews that solutions can be found through dialogue for all confrontations. He noted that American citizens imprisoned in Afghanistan are held based on prevailing rules, but added that Americans cannot place the Islamic Emirate under more pressure through systematic pressures over their citizens.

These remarks follow previous claims by the U.S. Chargé d'Affaires for Afghanistan that the Islamic Emirate uses detainees as leverage in talks with the U.S. and other countries.

The Islamic Emirate has not commented recently on the matter. Previously, spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid stated that the American detainees were arrested due to legal violations.