WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – An American resident and an American citizen were released from Afghanistan detention on Friday. One of them identified himself as a brother who was engaged in humanitarian work at the time the Taliban took them into custody.

Saifullah Rauf (a U.S. citizen) and Anes Khalil (a U.S. Green Card-holder) were both “unjustly held” in Qatar, according to Ned Price, State Department spokesperson.

They were released against a background of icy U.S.–Taliban relations. This was fueled by a ban for Afghan girls returning to secondary school, almost eight months after Islamists seized Kabul.

We are thankful for all the people who helped us secure the release of Rauf Khalil and Khalil. But, there is still much to do. Price declared that unjustly keeping Americans prisoner is unacceptable. “We won’t stop until all Americans being unjustly detained against their will are free to embrace their families again,” Price said.

Their detention was secretly kept quiet. Mark Frerichs, the most well-known American in Taliban custody was taken hostage in January 2020.

Rauf is identified in the statement by Human First Coalition on Twitter (NYSE 🙂 which was posted by the U.S. private organization involved in the evacuation of at-risk Afghans.

Rauf, his brother and he stated that they were involved in humanitarian work when the Taliban took them into custody Dec. 18.

He said that they were kept for 105 days.

His explanation was that the extremely sad situation was caused by a misunderstanding. He did not elaborate.

Rauf expressed his gratitude to all those who helped him and the couple free them, which included U.S. officials as well their families, Qatari family members, British government representatives, and his own organization.