Rauf and his brothers, all former Afghan refugees, founded the Human First Coalition, which worked with other members of the Digital Dunkirk movement to evacuate those desperate to flee after the fall of Kabul. The organization’s work soon turned to humanitarian aid to Afghans, and Rauf interrupted medical school to go to Kabul to try to provide much-needed aid.
Rauf and his brother Anees Khalil, green card holders, were arrested by the Taliban on 18 December. 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 available to CNN, Safi Rauf announced that “due to the efforts of the US government (particularly Political Officer JP Feldmayer, Special Adviser Tom West and Lt. Col. Jason Hock) we were released on Friday to support family and loved ones, the government of Qatar, the UK Government, our Human First Coalition team and countless friends across the country, region and around the world.”
A Human First Coalition source told CNN that Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, former New York Democratic Assemblyman 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,” said Ned Price, a State Department spokesman, on Friday. “They are now in Qatar before traveling home. We are grateful for the efforts of all those who worked to secure her release, but more work remains. Wrongfully holding Americans captive is always unacceptable, and we won’t stop until every wrongdoing American is held against their will, can hug their families again.”
A State Department official added: “These individuals had been detained in Afghanistan since December. When it became clear that they would not be allowed to leave the country, we planned and implemented an approach to negotiate their release and reunion with their families. This was a multi-agency organizational team that conceived, planned and executed this important mission to bring home an American citizen and lawful permanent resident of the United States. We also took the opportunity to press again for the release of Mark Frerichs , as we do in every meeting we have with the Taliban. Nowhere, at any time, will we relax in our efforts to bring home Americans who are unjustly imprisoned — whether in Venezuela, Russia, Afghanistan, Syria, China, Iran or anywhere else.”
Frerichs, also a Navy veteran, remains in Taliban custody. Frerichs, a civil engineer working on development projects in Afghanistan, was kidnapped before the deal between the Trump administration and the Taliban was signed in February 2020.
Born in an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan, Safi Rauf came to the United States and graduated from high school in Omaha, Nebraska. Embedded in US special forces as a linguist in Afghanistan for four years, he returned to the US and enlisted in the US Navy Reserve.
“Anees and I would like to thank everyone who worked tirelessly to secure our release, as well as everyone who supported the humanitarian efforts of our organization, the Human First Coalition,” Rauf said in his statement. “At this time we look forward to reuniting with our family and loved ones and I hope we can continue to commit ourselves and seek ways to serve the Afghan people at this critical time of need in Afghanistan.”
Rauf also said: “Our understanding is that this extraordinarily unfortunate situation arose out of a misunderstanding; we did nothing wrong.”
The release of the Rauf brothers comes as the Taliban continue to seek recognition from the United States and other Western nations as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. Since regaining power in August 2021, when the Biden administration withdrew all US troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban have arrested at least eight Westerners, including the Rauf brothers, CNN reported in February.
During the US withdrawal, they worked alongside the Taliban amid a chaotic evacuation of foreigners and Afghans from Kabul. Since then, US officials have been in regular contact, but there are still dozens of Americans in Afghanistan who wanted to leave the country but were unable to because there were no regular evacuation flights.
This story has been updated with additional reactions and background information.
CNN’s Jeremy Herb, Peter Bergen, and Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.