Washington's special envoy on hostages, Adam Boehler, made a rare visit on Saturday to Kabul to discuss the possibility of a prisoner exchange, Taliban and US officials said.

"Adam Boehler, referring to the issue of detained citizens between Afghanistan and the United States, said that both countries will exchange prisoners," Afghanistan's deputy prime minister Abdul Ghani Baradar's office said after their meeting.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stopped short of confirming an exchange would take place, saying Boehler had gone to Kabul to "explore what's possible".

"Our special envoy for people unlawfully detained has been having conversations for a while", Rubio told reporters as he headed to the Middle East.

"Obviously, it'll be the president's decision in terms of any trades or an

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