LONDON: An Afghan-American navy reservist and his brother have been released after being held captive by the Taliban for 105 days.
Safi Rauf, 27, and his brother Anees Khalil were picked up by the Taliban on Dec. 18 as they worked with the aid agency Rauf co-founded, Human First, to help evacuate those stranded in Kabul following the US withdrawal last August.
Rauf thanked the US for securing his and his brother’s release after more than three months of negotiations.
“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 organisation, Human First,” Rauf said on the agency’s Facebook page.
“Our understanding is that this exceptionally unfortunate situation arose due to a misunderstanding; we did nothing wrong.”
State Department spokesman Ned Price said the Biden administration is “grateful” for the hard work of those involved in securing the release, but called out the Taliban for having “unjustly detained” the brothers.
He said “more work remains” to secure the release of navy veteran Mark Frerichs, who was kidnapped by the Taliban in February 2020.
“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,” Price said.
For Rauf and Khalil, presently awaiting a flight to the US from Qatar, the immediate priority is reuniting with family.
“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,” Rauf said.