US President Joe Biden wants Taliban to release US Navy hostage in Afghanistan
New Delhi: US President Joe Biden on Sunday called for the release of US Navy veteran Mark Frerichs, who was taken hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan nearly two years ago.
Biden said, “Two years ago tomorrow, U.S. Navy veteran Mark Frerichs was taken hostage in Afghanistan. A civil engineer, he spent a decade helping the people of Afghanistan. He has done nothing wrong. And yet, for two years the Taliban has held him captive.”
Biden in a statement said, “The statement said “Mark is a native of Illinois. A son. A brother. And his family has now endured two gut-wrenching years–praying for his safety, wondering where and how he is, aching for his return.”
“Threatening the safety of Americans or any innocent civilians is always unacceptable, and hostage-taking is an act of particular cruelty and cowardice. The Taliban must immediately release Mark before it can expect any consideration of its aspirations for legitimacy. This is not negotiable,” read the statement.
The Taliban took over control of Kabul on August 15 last year and following this the country has been battered by deepening economic, humanitarian, and security crises.
A combination of a suspension of foreign aid, the freezing of Afghan government assets, and international sanctions on the Taliban have plunged the country, already suffering from high poverty levels, into a full-blown economic crisis.
(_Vinayak Barot)
