KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – David Lavery, a former Canadian Forces soldier known as “Canadian Dave” in Afghanistan, has reportedly been detained by the Taliban, according to Canadian media.
CTV National News, citing its sources, reported on Saturday that David Lavery was “picked up” by the Taliban shortly after landing at Kabul Airport on Monday.
Mr. Lavery, who runs a private security company, Raven Rae Consulting Services, in Kabul, had spent several years working in Afghanistan. His current whereabouts remain unknown, but sources have informed the media that he is being held by the Taliban.
According to the report, the retired Canadian soldier made headlines for helping around 100 Afghans flee the country during the evacuation in August 2021, following the collapse of the previous government and the Taliban’s takeover.
The Canadian government is aware of the incident, and officials are closely monitoring the situation and providing consular assistance, the report added.
Sources who spoke to the media expressed shock at his disappearance, pointing out that the Taliban would likely have been aware of Lavery’s work in Afghanistan over the years.
The Taliban authorities have yet to comment on the report.
Over the past three years of their rule, the Taliban have detained several foreign nationals, including three US citizens, for reasons that remain unclear.
Last year, the Taliban authorities announced that they were holding 16 foreign nationals, including a woman, without disclosing their identities or charges. Later, in September, the group detained 18 employees of an international NGO, including an American female surgeon, accusing them of “promoting Christianity.”
The ruling regime in Afghanistan has a history of holding Westerners hostage to gain political leverage and secure prisoner exchanges.
In September 2022, Bashir Noorzai, a Taliban financier and drug lord serving a life sentence, was released in exchange for the freedom of Mark Frerichs, a US citizen detained by the Taliban before the collapse of the Afghan republic government.
In 2014, the Taliban released Bowe Bergdahl, a U.S. Army sergeant who had been held captive for five years by the Haqqani network, a Taliban-affiliated group, in exchange for five Taliban leaders held at Guantánamo Bay.
