Kabul: US engineer held hostage by Taliban freed. Mark Frericks, also a former Marine, was handed over to US authorities by the Taliban. In exchange for this, Haji Bashir Nurzai, who was in US custody, was released to the Taliban.
Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said in a press conference that an agreement was reached to release both of them following long discussions.
In January 2020, Mark Frericks, retired from the US Navy, was taken hostage by the Taliban while working as a civil engineer on a construction project in Afghanistan. After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, the US continued efforts to secure Frericks’ release. Frericks’ family was informed by phone of US President Joe Biden in the UK.
Haji Bashir Nurzai, who was freed by the US, is an Afghan tribal leader close to the Taliban. Noorzai was arrested in the US in 2005 for smuggling $50 million worth of cocaine into the US. After being convicted, Noorzai was serving a life sentence in a US prison. However, Nurzai denied all the charges once morest him. Noorzai’s lawyer had said that he went to the US with the assurance that he would not be arrested.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Nurzai did not hold any official position in the Taliban but had always provided support, including weapons.