Latest news with #MahmoodShahHabibi
UPI
4 hours ago
- Business
- UPI
U.S. offers reward to locate abducted Afghan American in Afghanistan
The United States has offered a $5 million reward for help in locating Mahmood Shah Habibi, an American businessman who was abducted in Afghanistan in 2022. Photo courtesy FBI/ Release June 25 (UPI) -- The United States is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information locating Mahmood Shah Habibi, an Afghan American businessman who was abducted in Afghanistan nearly three years ago. The reward from the U.S. State Department's Rewards for Justice Program was announced Tuesday by department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce, who said during a regular press briefing, "We have determined that he has been disappeared, and that he has not been heard from." According to a release from the FBI in August, Habibi, a contractor for Kabul-based telecommunications company Asia Consultancy Group, and his driver were kidnapped from their vehicle near his home in the Afghan capital on Aug. 10, 2022. It is believed that he was taken by the Taliban along with 29 other employees of his company, all of whom, except for Habibi, have since been released. "He has not been heard from since his initial arrest, and the Taliban has yet to provide any information regarding his whereabouts or condition," the State Department said in a statement. Bruce said they are hoping the $5 million reward will entice someone to come forward. "It makes a difference in everyone's lives that we might get some information about him," she said. The U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021. In its absence, the Taliban regained control of the Middle Eastern country.
Arab News
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
US puts up reward for American detained in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday offered a $5 million reward for information to find a US citizen who it said was abducted in Afghanistan in 2022. Mahmood Shah Habibi, who worked for a telecommunications firm and holds dual nationality, was abducted along with his driver in Kabul and detained by the Taliban government's intelligence service, the State Department said. 'Since that time, the so-called Taliban government has not yet provided any information about Mr. Habibi's whereabouts or condition,' State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters. In January, the Taliban government released two other Americans, Ryan Corbett and William McKenty, for an Afghan detained in the United States in an exchange mediated by Qatar. Dozens of foreign nationals have been arrested since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021 following the withdrawal of the US military.
The Hill
14 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
US offers up to $5M reward for return of Afghan-American detained by Taliban
The U.S. government is offering $5 million for information about the whereabouts of an Afghan-American businessman last seen in Afghanistan in 2022. Mahmood Shah Habibi, who worked for a telecommunications company in Kabul at the time of his disappearance, is thought to have been taken into custody by the Taliban. 'We have determined he has been disappeared, and he has not been heard from,' State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters during a press briefing on Tuesday. 'He was taken, and he has not been heard from since.' According to the State Department, Habibi and his driver were taken from their vehicle near Habibi's home in Kabul City on Aug. 10, 2022, but the Taliban has not provided any updates about his location or condition. His family has spent the past two years publicly pleading for information about his disappearance. 'We initially kept it quiet and worked with the State Department in the hope that the Taliban would realize that my brother's arrest was a mistake,' Habibi's older brother wrote in an op-ed The Hill published last year. 'But here we are, and another year has passed and my brother is still not home.' The U.S. military pulled troops out of Afghanistan in 2021 in a deal with the Taliban that ultimately led to the Islamic militant group gaining full control of the country. The Taliban has not verified that it has Habibi in its custody. 'We know diplomats have met with the Taliban and asked them to move beyond these inexplicable protestations that they do not have him,' his brother wrote last August. 'If the Taliban will not acknowledge him, we hope that there are people who value human life who will come forward and share what they know.' The U.S. Department of State's Rewards for Justice program's $5 million offer for information leading to Habibi's location, recovery, and safe return is aimed at spurring new leads, Bruce said. People with information that may be helpful are encouraged to contact the State Department via Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp or the department's web tipline.
