American freed in Afghan jail swap

A US navy veteran detained in Afghanistan since 2020 has been released in exchange for a Taliban ally who was imprisoned in the US for heroin smuggling, US and Afghan officials have revealed.

The Taliban government freed Mark Frerichs, who was working as a civil engineer on construction projects in Afghanistan when he was detained 31 months ago.

In return, the US government released Bashar Noorzai, a former regional strongman who was sentenced to life imprisonment by a US court 17 years ago for smuggling large amounts of heroin.

“After long negotiations, US citizen Mark Frerichs (pictured) was handed over to an American delegation and that delegation handed over (Noorzai) to us at Kabul airport,” Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said. “We are happy that at Kabul International Airport, in the capital of Afghanistan, we witnessed the wonderful ceremony of one of our compatriots returning home.”

Mr Frerichs, meanwhile, flew to Qatar, a US official said, adding that he was “in stable health”.

“Today, we have secured the release of Mark Frerichs, and he will soon be home,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement.

“Bringing the negotiations that led to Mark’s freedom to a successful resolution required difficult decisions, which I did not take lightly,” he said.

Qatari officials confirmed that they had played a monthslong role in securing the navy veteran’s freedom.

The US government gave no details, but diplomats said Qatar had helped US officials improve contacts with the Taliban in the months after Washington withdrew from Afghanistan. “This is a result of those contacts,” a diplomat said.

Noorzai was welcomed with a hero’s fanfare by the government of the newly styled Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

Afghan security analyst Hekmatullah Hekmat said Noorzai’s release was a “major achievement” for Kabul’s new extremist Islamist rulers.