Afghanistan –
Former Canadian soldier detained by Taliban released
After more than two months in captivity, a former Canadian army soldier was released on Sunday.
An Afghan National Army soldier stands guard from a bunker during the ceremony handing over Forward Base Masum Ghar from Canada to U.S. forces in the Panjwai district in 2011.
AFP
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A former Canadian soldier arrested by Taliban authorities in November 2024 in Kabul was released on Sunday after more than two months of captivity, as part of an agreement negotiated by Qatar, a source close to the matter told AFP.
David Lavery has “left Afghanistan and is now in Doha,” said this source on condition of anonymity. According to her, her release was obtained “following a request from the Canadian government to Qatar.”
Qatari mediators, in collaboration with Canadian officials, mobilized their contacts in Afghanistan to enable the sending of a medical team to Kabul, assess the state of health of David Lavery and provide him with the necessary care. They also facilitated communications between him and his family, this source added.
“He found his loved ones”
“After a breakthrough in the negotiations, Mr. Lavery is now in Doha where he has reunited with his loved ones. When he arrived, he underwent a medical examination,” she stressed. In 2021, this ex-soldier distinguished himself by helping around a hundred Afghans flee Kabul during the chaotic withdrawal of American and allied forces.
A veteran of the Canadian army, he would have been a key member of Joint Task Force 2, an elite special operations unit. In recent years, he managed a private security company in Kabul.
-His release comes shortly after that of two American citizens detained by the Taliban, in exchange for an Afghan fighter imprisoned in the United States, in another agreement negotiated again by Qatar.
Two more Americans detained in Afghanistan
Ryan Corbett, detained since 2022, and William McKenty, were thus exchanged for Khan Mohammed, convicted of narco-terrorism by an American court. The Afghan Foreign Ministry presented him as “an Afghan fighter imprisoned in America.”
Two other Americans, George Glezmann, a former aircraft mechanic, and Mahmood Habibi, a naturalized American, however, remain detained in Afghanistan.
Qatar, which hosted the Taliban for peace talks with the United States before the 2021 withdrawal, continues to facilitate discussions with Taliban authorities, including talks in June 2024.
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