According to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ottawa is treating the arrest of a former member of Canada’s top special forces in Afghanistan “very seriously” on Saturday.
According to Canadian network CTV News, retired soldier David Lavery was “picked up” by the Taliban on Monday immediately after arriving in Kabul.
The site stated, citing anonymous sources, that it does not know where he is.
“I can first of all assure you that the Canadian government is taking very, very seriously the situation,” Trudeau said at the close of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Lima, when asked about Lavery’s case.
Lavery’s family has received consular support, the prime minister stated, but he refrained from commenting further, citing “operational and privacy reasons.”
Lavery gained notoriety in 2021 for assisting an estimated 100 Afghans in escaping Kabul amid the tumultuous US and NATO soldiers’ exit.
He reportedly played a significant role in the Canadian military’s prestigious Joint Task Force 2 special operations outfit throughout his decades-long service.
Lavery apparently ran a Kabul-based private security company more recently.
