Who is Adam Boehler, negotiating with Afghan Taliban over Hostages?

Adam Boehler meeting with Afghan Taliban leaders in Kabul on Sept 13, 2025. 

KABUL 15 Sept 2025: According to the Afghan Taliban official media an oddly dressed senior American official met with the Taliban’s Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar Akhund at the Arg (presidential palace) in Kabul on a Saturday afternoon.

Though official Afghan news agency Bakhtar described the meeting to be focused on the current situation in Afghanistan and the potential for enhanced political and economic cooperation between Afghanistan and the United States, but it was about American hostages or prisoners in Afghanistan.

The casually dressed US official was none other than Adam Boehler, the Trump administration’s special hostage envoy, and not mis-spelled Adam Bueller by the agency. Wearing a black cap and dressed in a brown jacket adorned with the US flag, he was accompanied by Zalmay Khalilzad, a former U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan. It is not clear why meeting in his capacity as a diplomat, Mr Boehler did not wear formal suit.

As per BNA, during the discussions, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar highlighted their successes in improving the economic situation in his country. He asserted that corruption and drug cultivation have been eradicated, unemployment rates have decreased, and the Afghan currency has remained stable against foreign currencies. He noted enhancements in the banking sector, increased exports, and the commencement of major infrastructure projects.

But the statement did not mention anything about the American prisoners/hostages in Afghanistan. For his part, Mr. Boehler touched on the matter of prisoners, advocating for the exchange of prisoners between the two countries.

The American team also met with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

According to the US news channel CBS the Taliban have said they had reached an agreement with U.S. envoys on an exchange of prisoners as part of an effort to normalize relations between the two countries.

On the issue of prisoners, Boehler "confirmed that the two sides would undertake an exchange of detainees," the Taliban statement said. No information was provided on how many people are being held in each country, their identities or the reasons and circumstances of their imprisonment.

But TFA sources say Taliban still have three U.S. citizen in their prisons but denying having the fourth Mr Habibi.

They gave no details of an actual detainee swap and the White House did not comment on the meeting in Kabul or the results described in a Taliban statement.

Zalmay Khalilzad during the meeting in Kabul (BNA)

Mr Boehler companion Zalmay Khalilzad's trip is being seen as a facilitator between the US and Afghanistan. Mr Khalilzad has drawn criticism from many Afghans, who have repeatedly warned the U.S. against relying on him or trusting his advice and judgment. His role in materializing Doha Agreement is seen by many Afghans as sellout to the Taliban.

One observer noted that he seemed to serve merely as a translator between the American official and Taliban officials but in the same breath questions his Pashto skills.

Gulbadin Hekmatyar’s Hizb e Islami Afghanistan’s daily newspaper Shahadat in fact in scathing criticism has called Mr Khalilzad “Afghanistan's Secret President” in Sept. 14 comments and described his activities “dangerous”. The daily claimed that Mr. Khalilzad visits Afghanistan without a visa.

It further throws light on Mr. Khalilzad's anti-Pakistan statements saying he is doing this because such statements apparently have a good market amongst Afghans.

The daily Shahadat says “Khalilzad wants to be the next king of Afghanistan.”

HOSTAGES A PRIORITY

The Afghan foreign ministry was more focused and said in a statement that both sides will continue talks in future, "particularly regarding citizens imprisoned in each other’s countries.”

A source familiar with the Trump administration’s thinking said there was frustration in Washington over the Taliban’s slow process of living up to its international commitments on human  rights and hostages, which had dimmed prospects for a deal on critical minerals or improving broader relations.

Mahmood Habibi, a naturalized U.S. citizen, is the most high-profile American detainee, Washington says. But the case is particularly complex, as the Taliban deny holding him.

The State Department describes Habibi's detention as a major impediment to exploring increased engagement with Afghanistan. The Taliban says they have no knowledge of his whereabouts, three years after he disappeared in Kabul.

The Taliban rejected an offer made last year to trade Habibi for alleged Osama bin Laden aide Mohammad Rahim al-Afghani, the last Afghan held in the Guantanamo Bay military prison.

The Taliban administration, which seized power after 20 years of U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan, is not recognized by Washington.

U.S. President Donald Trump has made freeing Americans held abroad a top priority and has secured the release of dozens, including from Afghanistan, Russia and Venezuela.

Reuters says it approached the U.S. State Department and the White House but they did not immediately respond to requests for comment

Trump signed an executive order this month paving the way for Washington to designate countries a state sponsor of wrongful detention and impose punitive measures, including sanctions, on those it says are wrongfully holding Americans.

WHO IS ADAM BOEHLER

Mr Boehler visited Kabul in March earlier this year and took back with him George Glezmann, an American detained in 2022 while in Afghanistan as a tourist. In January, the U.S. freed an Afghan convicted by an American court on charges of drug smuggling and terrorism in exchange for two U.S. citizens held in Afghanistan.

Mr Adam Boehler has an interesting background. He is widely regarded as an innovative leader in the private sector. He founded and was CEO of several successful large businesses and was a leader at two international investment firms, including Landmark Health.

Adam also worked at Battery Ventures, a global technology-focused venture capital firm with over $2 billion under management and offices in Boston, Silicon Valley, London and Israel. He focused on investments in software and emerging technologies in the United States and Israel.

He resides in New Orleans, LA with his wife, Shira, and their four young children.

He is also the main introlcutor between the US and Hamas. In March, Adam Boehler, Donald Trump's envoy for hostage affairs, caused a storm in Washington when he became the first US official to meet publicly and face-to-face with Hamas, despite the group being listed as a "terrorist" organisation by the United States.

Rather than demonise Hamas, Boehler struck a surprising tone, telling reporters: "I understand why Israelis are angry, but the United States is not an agent of Israel. We have our own interests."