This Monday, the Afghan government handed over a US Navy soldier, detained for more than two years in the country, in exchange for the release of a member of the Taliban regime, the Afghan Foreign Minister said.
“Today, Mark Frerichs was handed over to the United States and Haji Bashir was returned to us at Kabul airport,” Amir Khan Muttaqi said at a press conference.
Haji Bashir Noorzai, an Afghan warlord and Taliban member who was imprisoned in the United States after being sentenced to life in prison for trafficking heroin, arrived in Kabul late on Sunday, several Afghan government officials said.
Government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP news agency that Bashir Noorzai did not hold an official position among the Taliban but “provided significant support, including weapons”, during the movement’s emergence in the 1990s.
Afghanistan fell into the hands of the Taliban on August 15, 2021, during the withdrawal of US troops from the ground, which ended on August 30, 2021, after 20 years in the country.
Read more on TSF
