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Taliban releases Afghan-American Naval reservist held in Afghanistan

US citizen Safi Rauf and his brother Anees Khalil were released to Qatar before traveling home to the United States.
A US Navy service member attends a vigil for Navy Corpsman Maxton "Max" W. Soviak at Edison Middle School in Berlin Heights, Ohio, Aug. 29, 2021. Soviak was killed during the Aug. 26 terrorist attack outside of Kabul Airport in Afghanistan along with 12 other American service members and more than 100 Afghans.

An American aid worker and his brother were released Friday after more than three months in Taliban captivity in Afghanistan and are now in Qatar, the State Department said. 

Safi Rauf, an Afghan-American Naval reservist and Anees Khalil, a legal permanent resident, were transferred to the Gulf state, which represents American diplomatic interests in Afghanistan, before traveling home. CNN first reported on their release. 

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