US government free Taliban drug lord in return for release of kidnapped US citizen

• The Taliban has freed kidnapped US citizen Mark Frerichs after two and a half years' captivity.
• In return, the US has freed Bashir Noorzai, a Taliban warlord convicted of drug trafficking.

The Taliban has released US engineer and Veteran Mark Frerichs after holding him hostage since 2020, the US State Department has confirmed.

In a statement on Monday, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said: "After more than two years in captivity, U.S. Navy veteran Mark Frerichs is safe and on his way home from Afghanistan."

Speaking to AP, Frerichs' sister Charlene Cakora said: "I am so happy to hear that my brother is safe and on his way home to us. Our family has prayed for this each day of the more than 31 months he has been a hostage. We never gave up hope that he would survive and come home safely to us."

In exchange, the US has released Bashir Noorzai. He is a former warlord who was arrested in New York City and convicted in 2008 of trying to smuggle $50 million worth of heroin into the United States, the Department of Justice announced at the time.

The department also said that, before his arrest, Noorzai supplied the Taliban with arms, including AK-47 assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and anti-tank weapons.

The exchange took place at Kabul Airport.

Frerichs was working as a civil engineer in Afghanistan for 10 years "for the benefit of the Afghan people," according to the US State Department. He was kidnapped in January 2020.

The Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August, 2021 after a military offensive and the collapse of the previous government.

"Mark Frerichs was handed over to the US and Haji Bashir was handed over to us at Kabul airport," said Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, according to the BBC.

The FBI had previously offered a reward of up to $5 million for "information leading to the location, recovery, and return" of Frerichs.

In January, President Joe Biden said: "The Taliban must immediately release Mark before it can expect any consideration of its aspirations for legitimacy. This is not negotiable."

The Guardian cited "a senior Biden administration official," who told the paper Biden had granted clemency to Noorzai who had been in custody since his arrest in 2005.