Kabul: US engineer held hostage by Taliban released. Mark Frericks, also a former Marine, was handed over to US authorities by the Taliban. In return, 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 the two of them after long negotiations.
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 United States continued efforts to secure Frericks’ release. The Frericks family were informed by telephone of US President Joe Biden in the UK.
Haji Bashir Nurzai, who was released by the US, is an Afghan tribal leader close to the Taliban. Noorzai was arrested in the United States in 2005 for smuggling $50 million worth of cocaine into the United States. After his conviction, Noorzai was serving a life sentence in a US prison. However, Nurzai denied all the charges against 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 held no official position in the Taliban but had always provided support, including weapons.
