A US Navy reservist beforehand detained by the Taliban helped safe the discharge of an Afghan-American held by the Taliban with out the assistance of the State Division.
The household of 33-year-old Mahnaz Safi, who was detained by the Taliban in Afghanistan final month, reached out to Safi Rauf, an Afghan-American Naval reservist who was taken prisoner in December along with his brother as they labored to assist folks flee Afghanistan’s hardline rulers, Axios reported.
Rauf was capable of safe Safi’s launch and arrived along with her at JFK Airport in New York on Thursday morning after arranging her secure passage to Dubai.
Safi, an Afghan-American born in New Jersey, determined to journey to a village in Jowzjan Province in Could to distribute humanitarian assist after elevating $18,000 on GoFundMe.
Safi Rauf (proper) was capable of safe Mahnaz Safi’s (left) launch. The pair are pictured in JFK Airport in New York Metropolis on Thursday
Rauf, a US Navy reservist beforehand detained by the Taliban, helped safe the discharge of a Safi, an American held by the Taliban with out the assistance of the State Division
After securing Safi’s launch, Rauf arrived along with her at JFK Airport on Thursday morning and organized her secure passage to Dubai
Safi, an Afghan-American born in New Jersey, determined to journey to a village in Jowzjan Province in Could to distribute humanitarian assist after elevating $18,000
The self-described ‘danger taker’ stated she ignored warnings of how harmful the Taliban-run nation was, attributing her family and friends’s issues on account of ‘media alarmism.’
However simply three weeks into her keep native police introduced her in for questioning and he or she was detained for a number of days after they discovered she had no visa or entry stamps in her passport, Axios reported.
As well as, an area imam accused Safi of trying to transform villagers from Islam, one thing the 33-year-old Muslim denies.
Her household reached out to Rauf after studying about his months-long captivity by the Taliban and his work with the Human First Coalition, which labored to rescue these vulnerable to Taliban persecution.
After spending 105 days in Taliban captivity Rauf and his brother had been launched in April following months of negotiations by the Biden administration.
However when it got here to the negotiations to free Safi, the State Division had no involvement, Axios reported.
Rauf used his contacts to determine Safi had been transferred to the Common Directorate of Intelligence, which was the identical Taliban safety company that had detained him earlier this 12 months.
Rauf and his coalition then reached out to Taliban contacts and negotiated Safi’s launch in trade for direct humanitarian assist for his or her villages.
After spending 105 days in Taliban captivity Rauf and his brother had been launched in April following months of negotiations by the Biden administration
Rauf and his brothers based the Human First Coalition to assist determined Afghans flee the nation’s hardline rulers and the chaotic departure of US troops in Afghanistan final 12 months
Rauf was born in a refugee camp in Pakistan earlier than reaching the US. He served with U.S. particular forces in Afghanistan earlier than enlisting within the US Navy reserves
The State Division confirmed they had been conscious of Safi’s launch and suggested others to not take the identical danger she took.
‘We’re conscious of stories of the discharge of a U.S. citizen who had beforehand been detained in Afghanistan. The State Division continues to advise U.S. residents to not journey to Afghanistan,’ a State Division spokesperson instructed Axios.
Rauf used his expertise from being taken prisoner along with his brother Anees Khalil final December as they labored to assist folks flee Afghanistan’s hardline rulers.
Their launch was confirmed by the State Division, which stated that they had been ‘unjustly detained.
In a press release after being launched Rauf stated he and his brother would hold working for Afghans.
‘Right now, we’re wanting ahead to reuniting with our household and family members and finally, I hope we will proceed to advocate for and search methods to serve the Afghan folks on this important time of want in Afghanistan,’ he stated.
His group was concerned in aiding the escape of the Afghan translator who helped rescue Joe Biden from a distant valley in Afghanistan in 2008.
The Taliban seized Kabul in August final 12 months, upending President Joe Biden’s hopes of an orderly withdrawal of U.S. troops.
It led to a frantic mission to evacuate U.S. residents and Afghans who labored with American forces.
That work continues, to each free Westerners in Taliban custody and to assist weak Afghans flee the nation.
They embody Mark Frerichs, a fifty-nine-year-old civil engineer and Navy veteran, who was kidnapped in Kabul in 2020.
In February a British journalist Andrew North was launched together with one other journalist and Afghan residents after being detained whereas they did work for the United Nations.
One other British man, former cameraman Peter Jouvenal, was seized in Kabul on the finish of final 12 months and stays in custody.
Kidnappings have lengthy been a tactic of the Taliban, used as a device to unfold concern and to generate earnings from ransoms.
Final 12 months, Afghanistan’s rulers made clear how they deliberate to make use of the tactic once more. They’ve been urgent to swap Frerichs for an Afghan drug lord serving a life sentence in a U.S.
