Kabul, Afghanistan - Two American citizens imprisoned by the Taliban have been released, according to the US government on Tuesday.

They would soon be reunited with their relatives, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.

The Taliban described the release "as a goodwill gesture," Price said. It was not an swap of prisoners or detainees, and no money was exchanged, he said.

According to CNN, one of the two Americans is filmmaker Ivor Shearer.

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The network reported that the name of the second US citizen was being kept secret at the request of the family.

Shearer was arrested in mid-August with his colleague in the capital Kabul.

At the time, he was allegedly in the neighborhood of Kabul where al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri had been targeted and killed by a US drone strike in early August.

Since taking power in August 2021, the Taliban have continued to tighten their grip on the activity of journalists.