WASHINGTON, March 20. /TASS/. George Glezmann, a US citizen who was detained by the Taliban (a movement outlawed in Russia) more than two years ago in Afghanistan, has been released and is now on his way home, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
"George Glezmann is free. George was wrongfully detained in Afghanistan for two and a half years, but now he’s on his way to be reunited with his wife Aleksandra. Welcome home, George," he wrote on X.
According to a statement by the US State Department, Glezmann’s "release is a positive and constructive step" and was carried out with assistance from Qatar.
Glezmann, a mechanic for American-based Delta Airlines, was detained by the Taliban while traveling through Afghanistan in December 2022. Ten months later, the US Department of State deemed him "wrongfully detained," granting the administration broad powers to free him.
On April 14, 2021, then-US President Joe Biden announced a decision to end the country’s military operation in Afghanistan, the longest foreign military campaign in the history of the United States. The US launched the operation in October 2001. At its peak - from 2010 to 2013 - the number of Western forces in Afghanistan surpassed 150,000. The withdrawal of US troops began in May 2021. The main combat forces of NATO and the US left Afghanistan in 2014.
After the US announced that it was withdrawing from the country, the Taliban movement embarked on a large-scale operation to take control of Afghanistan. On August 15, 2021, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani stepped down and fled the country, while Taliban fighters swept into Kabul without encountering any resistance. By early September 2021, all US forces had left Afghanistan.