American held captive in Afghanistan for nearly three years is freed in Taliban prisoner swap, Biden confirms

An American Navy veteran held captive in Afghanistan for nearly three years has been released in a prisoner swap with the Taliban.

Mark Frerichs, of Illinois, was kidnapped in January 2020 while doing contract construction work in Afghanistan, less than a month before the US brokered a peace deal with the Taliban.

Mr Frerich was believed to have been held captive by the Haqqani network, a faction of the Taliban.

His release was part of a prisoner exchange, according to a spokesperson for the Taliban’s government.

President Joe Biden confirmed Mr Frerich’s release in a statement on Monday, saying: “He will soon be home.”

“His release is the culmination of years of tireless work by dedicated public servants across our government and other partner governments, and I want to thank them for all that effort,” the statement read.

“I spoke with Mark’s sister today to share the good news and express how happy I am for Mark’s family. Bringing the negotiations that led to Mark’s freedom to a successful resolution required difficult decisions, which I did not take lightly.

“Our priority now is to make sure Mark receives a healthy and safe return and is given the space and time he needs to transition back into society. My Administration continues to prioritize the safe return of all Americans who are held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad, and we will not stop until they are reunited with their families.

“We have much more work to do in many other cases, but Mark’s release demonstrates our enduring commitment. Like our work to free Americans held in Burma, Haiti, Russia, Venezuela, and elsewhere, it is our duty to do all we can to bring our people home.”

Prior to the statement, a source familiar with the situation told CNN that Mr Biden had informed Mr Frerich’s family of his release via a phone call to his sister, Charlene Cakora.

Believed to have been on the other end of the exchange was Bashir Noorzai, a notorious drug lord and senior Taliban detainee held for years at Guantanamo Bay who announced his release on Monday.

Noorzai told reporters at a press conference in Kabul that he spent 17 years and six months in the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay, and that he was the last Taliban prisoner there, according to the Associated Press.

The Taliban-appointed foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, also spoke at the press conference alongside Noorzai and welcomed the exchange, saying it marked the start of a “new era” in US-Taliban relations.

Mr Muttaqi confirmed the released American was Mr Frerichs. He was last seen in a video distributed earlier this year, pleading for his release so that he can be reunited with his family, according to a recording posted by The New Yorker magazine at the time.

In the video, which marked the first time he was seen since his abduction, he says it was filmed last November. The FBI declined to comment on the video’s authenticity at the time.

US officials across two presidential administrations had sought to secure Mr Frerich’s release.

Since their takeover of Afghanistan in August last year, the Taliban have demanded the United States release Noorzai in exchange for Mr Frerichs amid expectations of such exchanges for US citizens held in Afghanistan.

However, there had been no public sign of Washington moving forward on any sort of prisoner trade or exchange prior to Monday’s news.

Associated Press contributed to this report