Exclusive
Status: 12/21/2022 1:57 p.m
With the help of the Federal Intelligence Service, a German development worker was released in Afghanistan. The Taliban arrested him in the summer. Two Americans and an Afghan were also released.
After around four months in captivity by the Taliban, a German development worker has been released. The Islamists arrested him in the summer. They accused him of having proselytized for Christianity. The man came a few days ago WDR-Research now free.
The Federal Intelligence Service (BND) is said to have played a decisive role in the liberation of the German, who was working for a Protestant aid organization in Afghanistan. What consideration the Taliban received for the release is not known. The German is said to be in good health.
Two Americans and one Afghan were also released from Taliban custody this week. They had been arrested on suspicion of espionage. The men have now left Afghanistan and are in Qatar.
The group includes American filmmaker Ivor Shearer, who was arrested by Islamists in August while filming the house in Kabul where al-Qaeda leader Aiman al-Zawahiri was killed in a US drone strike .
months of negotiations
Former US Marine Mark Frerichs was released in September after being held hostage in Afghanistan for almost two years. Frerichs, who worked for a construction company in the country, was reportedly abducted by Haqqani network fighters in January 2020. After months of negotiations, the American was released as part of a prisoner swap.
In return, the US side had released Afghan Bashir Nursai, who is said to have been one of the most important drug dealers in Afghanistan and who was sentenced to life imprisonment by a US court in 2008 for heroin smuggling.
In November, German development worker Jörg L. was released from being held hostage in Mali after more than four and a half years. Islamist fighters kidnapped the man, who worked for an aid organization in West Africa, in April 2018 in Niger and then brought him to Mali. Several million euros are said to have been demanded for his release. A North African secret service, which the BND asked for help, is said to have played a decisive role in the negotiations.