An American and a lawful permanent resident of the United States have been released by the Taliban and are now in Qatar after being detained since December.
Safi Rauf, 27, an Afghan-American naval reservist, and his brother Anees Khalil, a green card holder, were taken into Taliban custody on Dec. 18. They were held for more than 100 days while there were negotiations between the Biden administration and their captors. They were freed Friday, the State Department announced, according to a CNN report.
“We can confirm that Safiullah Rauf and Anees Khalil, a U.S. citizen and a Lawful Permanent Resident, respectively, have been released after being unjustly detained in Afghanistan. They are now in Qatar before traveling home,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
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Rauf deferred his medical school enrollment after receiving an “outpouring of cries for help” from his Afghan connections during the U.S. military’s evacuation last August to form the Human First Coalition, a group whose mission is to provide safety to the people left behind in Afghanistan and are now living under the Taliban government.
“Anees and I wish to thank everyone who worked tirelessly to secure our release, as well as everyone who has supported the humanitarian efforts of our organization Human First Coalition,” Rauf said in a statement. “At this time, we are looking forward to reuniting with our family and loved ones, and ultimately, I hope we can continue to advocate for and seek ways to serve the Afghan people in this critical time of need in Afghanistan.”
Alex Plitsas, a spokesman for the group, told the Washington Examiner back in October that they had communicated with the Taliban “when there’s a need to engage with them,” adding at the time that “they’ve been extremely cooperative to date.”
The Taliban has also detained Mark Frerichs, also a naval veteran, who was kidnapped in 2020. While it was unclear whether he was alive, the New Yorker reported Friday there was a new hostage video of him that states the video was filmed on Nov. 28, 2021.
“Release me so that I may be reunited with my family,” he said. “Thank you.”
His sister, Charlene Cakora, confirmed to the outlet that her brother is the man in the video and said it is “public confirmation of our family’s long-held belief that he is alive after more than two years in captivity.”
“The Taliban has been trying to trade my brother for someone in U.S. custody for over a year, and the White House has never given them a reply. Sending U.S. officials to Kabul as they did today did nothing to move the ball forward on Mark’s safe return,” she said.
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President Joe Biden earlier this week met with the parents of Trevor Reed, an American who has been detained in Russia for almost three years. He and Paul Whelan have been detained by the Russian government for crimes they deny committing. WNBA star Brittney Griner was also recently arrested in Russia and remains detained.
“We are grateful for the efforts of all those who worked to secure their release, but more work remains,” Price added. “Unjustly holding Americans captive is always unacceptable, and we will not stop until every American who is being unjustly held against their will is able to hug their families once again.”
