American man abducted in Afghanistan appears in video pleading for his release

‘This is public confirmation of our family’s long-held belief that he is alive after more than two years in captivity,’ sister says

Navy veteran Mark Frerich appears in a family photo held by his father Art (Screenshot / CBS Chicago)

An American engineer abducted in Afghanistan two years ago has appeared in a video pleading for his release to allow him to return to his family.

The New Yorker magazine published the video on Friday. In the footage, engineer Mark Frerichs says the video was filmed on 28 November of last year.

Mr Frerichs is a Navy veteran and civilian contractor and is thought to be held by the Haqqani network, which is connected to the Taliban.

In the video, Mr Frerichs appears alone sitting in front of a dark fabric. He states that the video is being recorded on 28 November 2021. “I’ve been patiently waiting for my release,” he says, seemingly reading from a script being held in front of him.

“I’d like to ask the leadership of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan: please release me. Release me so that I may be reunited with my family. Thank you,” he says.

The New Yorker said it got the video from an unidentified person in Afghanistan. While the magazine stated that they haven’t been able to verify the source of the video, Mr Frerichs’ sister, Charlene Cakora, told the outlet that the man in the video is her brother.

“This is public confirmation of our family’s long-held belief that he is alive after more than two years in captivity,” she told the magazine.

She made an appeal to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to push for Mr Frerich’s release.

“We consider this to be an important indicator of the Taliban’s interest in seeking to arrange for Mark’s immediate release. President Biden and Secretary Blinken, we urge you to take bold and decisive action to bring Mark home,” she said.

Mr Frerichs was thought to be the only American in the custody of the Taliban when the Biden administration removed all US forces from the country. The 59-year-old was abducted in Kabul in 2020.

His family has appeared in the media on repeated occasions during the last two years, asking both the Biden administration and the Taliban to come to an agreement on Mr Frerichs’ release. During those two years, no proof was found that he remained alive.

Mr Frerichs, from Illinois, worked on aid projects in the country for a decade before he was abducted. In the video, he appears in Afghan clothing with a short beard.

His family has been frustrated that both former President Donald Trump and Mr Biden went through the process of removing all US troops from the country without getting Mr Frerichs out.

Ms Cakora has said that both administrations, including Biden National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, declined to meet her. Government officials have said that the hostage video is being reviewed, that American diplomats have spoken with the Taliban about Mr Frerichs on numerous occasions, and that Mr Sullivan is going to meet with Ms Cakora next month, The New Yorker reported.

“President Biden has been clear: the Administration will continue to work until every US citizen being held hostage or wrongfully detained comes home,” an anonymous administration official said, according to the magazine. “We will never ask families to be content, knowing that their loved one is not home with them.”

Two other Americans, Safi Raouf and Anees Khalil, were released on Friday after being detained by the Taliban in December, CNN reported.

“We are grateful to see these two individuals reunited with their families and have no criticism of them, but we are furious with the Biden Administration,” Ms Cakora told The New Yorker.

“The Taliban has been trying to trade my brother for someone in US custody for over a year, and the White House has never given them a reply. Sending US officials to Kabul as they did today did nothing to move the ball forward on Mark’s safe return,” she added.

She sent a request for a video showing that Mr Frerichs was alive to Sirajuddin Haqqani, the leader of the Haqqani network, in August. She thinks the release of the video is a response to her request and that it’s “an important indicator of the Taliban’s interest in seeking to arrange for Mark’s immediate release”.

The Taliban has demanded the release of tribal leader Hajji Bashar Noorzai, who has spent 17 years of a life sentence in US federal prison for drug trafficking. He was previously a CIA informant.

Ms Cakora wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post in January, stating that “I understand Noorzai is a convicted criminal, and I cannot speak to whether he deserves to be released”.

“But I know we have held him for more than 16 years and that others who have done a lot worse have been sent home,” she wrote. “It’s normal for prisoners to be returned after wars end.”

Mr Biden said in a statement a few days later that the Taliban “must immediately release Mark before it can expect any consideration of its aspirations for legitimacy”.

Illinois Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth told The New Yorker that she’s in favour of the swap.

“As the only remaining US hostage of the war in Afghanistan, we owe it to Mark Frerichs and his family to pull every possible lever we can to bring home this Navy Veteran who served our nation honorably,” Ms Duckworth, who lost both of her legs while serving in the Iraq War, said in a statement.

“Bashir Noorzai cooperated with our government by providing intelligence and helping us recover weapons from the Taliban for years and, as an elderly man in poor health, he is unlikely to return to any position of operational significance for the Taliban,” she added.

“At this point releasing him—after he served 17 years in prison—appears to be the only way to secure Mark’s safe return, so I would support the Administration taking this step to ensure an American is not left behind,” she said.

The anonymous administration official told the magazine in response to Ms Duckworth’s statement that “not everything we do is discussed in public, but we will work relentlessly to bring all Americans home, where they belong, and reunite them with their families”.

“President Biden, statements are not enough,” Ms Cakora told the magazine when asked if she had a message for the White House. “You have had a way to bring Mark home since you took office. Now we need you to act. Please don’t leave my brother behind.”