An American contractor held hostage in Afghanistan for more than two years by the Taliban has been freed, his family said Monday, as a Taliban drug lord jailed by the United States was also freed and returned to Kabul. Mark Frerichs, a Navy veteran who had spent more than a decade in Afghanistan as a civilian contractor, was kidnapped in January 2020 and is believed to have been held by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network ever since. Negotiations for his release had centered on a deal that would also have included the release of Bashir Nurzai, a notorious drug lord and member of the Taliban who told reporters in Kabul on Monday that he had spent 17 years and six months in US captivity before released. . The swap is one of the most significant prisoner swaps to take place under the Biden administration, coming five months after a separate deal with Russia led to the release of Marine veteran Trevor Reed. It came despite concerns from his family and other supporters that the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and the collapse of the government there could make it difficult for him to return home and could divert attention from his imprisonment. President Joe Biden, who is in the UK to attend Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, called Frieich’s family on Monday morning to share the “good news” that his government had been able to secure his release, according to a senior government official. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, called the decision to grant Norzai clemency a “difficult decision” but necessary to reunite an American citizen with his family. A sister of Frerichs, who is from Lombard, Illinois, thanked US government officials for helping to secure her brother’s release. “I am so glad to hear that my brother is safe and on his way home. Our family prayed for this every day of the more than 31 months he was held hostage. We never lost hope that he would survive and return safely to our home,” said a statement from the sister, Charlene Cakora. In Afghanistan, Noorzai told reporters at a news conference that he had been released from an unspecified US prison and handed over earlier in the day to the Taliban in Kabul in exchange for an American prisoner in Afghanistan, whom he did not identify. Frerichs’ family later confirmed it was him. Frerichs, 60, was working on civil engineering projects at the time of his abduction in Kabul on January 31, 2020. He was last seen in a video published last spring by The New Yorker in which he appeared in traditional Afghan clothing and pleaded for his release. The publication said it received the video from an unknown person in Afghanistan. By Monday, US officials in two presidential administrations had tried unsuccessfully to bring him home. Even before the takeover of Afghanistan in August last year, the Taliban had demanded Noorzai’s release from the US in exchange for Frerichs. But there was no public indication that Washington was pursuing any kind of trade or exchange in that direction. Eric Lambson, a former US government national security official who has been advising Fririch’s family, said in a statement that “everything about this case has been an uphill battle.” He criticized the Trump administration for giving “our leverage to quickly bring Mark home by signing a peace deal with the Taliban without ever asking them to return Mark first. “Mark’s family then had to navigate two Commands where many people saw Mark’s safe return as an obstacle to their plans for Afghanistan,” the statement said. The collapse of the Western-backed Afghan government and the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021 have raised additional concerns that any progress in negotiations could be undone or that Frerichs could be forgotten. But his name came up last month when President Joe Biden, who had publicly called for Freirich’s release, was said by his advisers to have pressed officials to look into any risk to Freirich from the drone strike in Afghanistan that killed Al Qaeda leader Ayman al. -Zawahri. Taliban-appointed foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi also spoke at the news conference in Kabul alongside Noorzai and hailed the exchange, saying it marked the start of a “new era” in US-Taliban relations. “This can be a new chapter between Afghanistan and the United States, this can open a new door for talks between the two countries,” Muttaqi told the press. “This act shows us that all problems can be solved through talks and I thank the teams on both sides who worked so hard to make this happen,” he added. The Taliban also released a short video on Monday on social media showing Nurzai’s arrival at Kabul airport, where he was greeted by top Taliban officials, including Mutaki. At the press conference, Nurzai expressed his gratitude to see the “mujahideen brothers” – a reference to the Taliban – in Kabul. “I pray for more success for the Taliban,” he added. “I hope this exchange can lead to peace between Afghanistan and America, because an American was released and I am also free now.”
