Taliban commander released from Guantanamo Bay ‘told them he was just a shopkeeper’ – World News

Taliban commander Gholam Ruhani reportedly told a review board at the Guantanamo Bay US military prison that he would help his “sick” father run a store in Kabul when he returned to Afghanistan

A Taliban commander was released from Guantanamo Bay after claiming he was a shopkeeper who would return to Afghanistan to care for his poorly father, it is reported.

As the terror group seized the capital Kabul on Sunday, video showed a man identified by experts as Gholam Ruhani, surrounded by armed militants, goading the US in a victory speech inside the presidential palace.

Reports say Ruhani was held at Guantanamo, a US military prison in Cuba, as he was accused of being a security agent for the Taliban’s ministry of intelligence and having close family ties to senior figures.

Ruhani told Al Jazeera he was held for seven years at Guantanamo, which has been used to hold the world’s most dangerous terrorists following their capture.

US State Department records indicate Ruhani was one of the first prisoners at the facility, being held there from 2002 to 2007, and was rated a medium security threat.

Files obtained by MailOnline show that Ruhani secured his release after telling an administrative review board he was a “simple shopkeeper” who “helped Americans”.

He claimed his “only wish” was to return to Afghanistan and help his “sick” father run a family appliance store in Kabul.

In March 2007, he claimed he had never heard of al-Qaeda before the September 11 terror attacks and joined the Taliban as a “survival necessity”, according to the documents.

He also told officials he felt that 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, who was given safe haven by the Taliban, had “brought war to Afghanistan”.

Born in 1975, he was raised in Ghazni before his parents sent him to Iran to escape the Afghan-Soviet war.

When he returned in 1992 he worked at his father business and later joined the Taliban, who seized control of Afghanistan in 1996.

American officials believe he decided to join the ministry of intelligence to avoid combat operations and was part of a security detail patrolling the streets of Kabul.

He was arrested by US forces in 2001, along with his brother-in-law, Abdul Haq Wasiq, the former deputy minister of intelligence, and eventually taken to Guantanamo.

US officials described Ruhani as a “threat” to America and believed he downplayed his rank and high-level connections in the Taliban, it was reported.

One document states: “The detainee claims to be no more than a simple shopkeeper who helped Americans.

“The detainee stated that his only wish was to return to Afghanistan and assist his father, who is sick, in operating the family appliance store in Kabul.”

In January 2007, a review board recommended Ruhani be transferred out of US military control.

Ruhani was repatriated along with Mullah Abdul Zakir, the New York Times reported.

Zakir, a Taliban leader, was moved to a jail in Afghanistan but was released and became a key military figure for the group.

Military flights evacuating diplomats and civilians from Afghanistan resumed early on Tuesday after the runway at Kabul airport was cleared of thousands of people desperate to flee after the Taliban seized the capital.

At least eight people were killed amid chaos at the airport on Sunday and Monday, as Afghans climbed on top of planes, held on to the wheels of departing flights, and scaled jet bridges to escape.

US troops fired shots to disperse crowds.

Reports said at least two people died when they plunged from the wheels of a US military jet after it took off.