Timothy Weeks, an Australian citizen who was taken hostage in Kabul and later released as part of an exchange, returned to Afghanistan on Friday. He said attending the ceremonies celebrating the Islamic Emirate's first anniversary is one of the goals of his trip.

He said at Kabul airport: “I first came to Afghanistan six years ago as you know, in 2016, and I came here with a dream to learn about Afghanistan, and now I’m coming again to complete my journey,” he said.

“I’m also coming to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan who I have stood behind. I spent three and a half years with Taliban soldiers, and I saw these people in a light that nobody else has been able to do,” he said.

Timothy Weeks was taken by the Taliban in 2016 and after three and a half years in captivity was released in 2019 along with American Kevin King, another professor of the American University of Afghanistan, in exchange for Anas Haqqani, a senior member of the Islamic Emirate, and two other members of the Taliban.