Exclusive: Biden administration secures release of Afghan-American Naval reservist who was held by Taliban
By Jake Tapper, Anchor and Chief Washington Correspondent
The Biden administration on Friday secured the release of Safi Rauf, 27, an Afghan-American Naval reservist who was doing humanitarian work in Kabul and who had been in captivity under the Taliban since December.
Rauf and his brothers, all former Afghan refugees, founded the Human First Coalition, which, along with others in the “Digital Dunkirk” movement, worked to evacuate those desperately trying to flee after Kabul fell. The organization’s work soon turned to humanitarian aid for Afghans, and Rauf put medical school on hold to go to Kabul to try to provide crucially needed aid.
Rauf and his brother Anees Khalil, a green card holder, were taken into custody by the Taliban on December 18. After more than 100 days of intense negotiations between the Biden administration and their captors, the Rauf brothers were freed earlier Friday.
In a statement first obtained by CNN, Safi Rauf announced that on Friday, “we were released due to the efforts of the US government (most especially political officer JP Feldmayer, Special Representative Tom West, and Lt. Col. Jason Hock), our family and loved ones, the Qatari government, the British government, our team at Human First Coalition, and countless friends in country, in the region, and all over the world.”
A source with the Human First Coalition tells CNN that Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, former New York Democratic Rep. Nita Lowey and national security adviser Jake Sullivan were also very helpful in securing Rauf’s release.
“Safiullah Rauf and Anees Khalil were released after being unjustly detained in Afghanistan,” Ned Price, a State Department spokesman, said Friday. “They are now in Qatar before traveling home. We are grateful for the efforts of all those who worked to secure their release but more work remains. Unjustly holding Americans captive is always unacceptable, and we will not stop until every American who is being unjustly held against their will is able to hug their families once again.”
Born in an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan, Safi Rauf came to the US and graduated from high school in Omaha, Nebraska. Embedded with US special forces as a linguist in Afghanistan for four years, he returned to the US and enlisted in the US Navy Reserves.
“Anees and I wish to thank everyone who worked tirelessly to secure our release as well as everyone who has supported the humanitarian efforts of our organization Human First Coalition,” Rauf said in his statement. “At this time, we are looking forward to reuniting with our family and loved ones and ultimately, I hope we can continue to advocate for and seek ways to serve the Afghan people in this critical time of need in Afghanistan.”
Rauf also said, “Our understanding is that this exceptionally unfortunate situation arose due to a misunderstanding; we did nothing wrong.”
Another Naval veteran, Mark Frerichs, remains in Taliban custody. Frerichs, a civil engineer working on development projects in Afghanistan, was kidnapped before the February 2020 deal between the Trump administration and Taliban was signed.
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