He was an old warrior in the Canadian regiment, a former air and security consultant at the United Nations, traveling inside and outside Kabul for two decades.

Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, he also helped evacuate hundreds of Afghans exposed to revenge because of their work in the Canadian army.

But while the Taliban did not disturb him in the past, when he landed at Hamid Karzai airport on the morning of November 11, 2024, they seemed to be waiting for him.

They said they took him in reservation and detained him for 77 days until I finally left him on January 26. “It was about nerves, it was frightening.”

In an interview a week after his release, Lavre said that the Taliban had been repeatedly interrogated if he was a spy. His kidnappers were also suspicious because he was carrying 18 consultations and flying tickets for two Afghan families who were cleansed to come to Canada.

He said that the hats and combat jackets in his bag were being held against him, although they were wearing simply when he was putting a wreath on a memorial day in a memorial to Canadian soldiers.

He said: “I am a spy, this type of things,” describing the allegations of the General Directorate of Intelligence in the Taliban, which was placed on it during the interrogation.

He still does not know what deals, if any, by the Canadian government or the Qatari intermediaries who negotiated his release. “This is the question of one million dollars,” he said.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly announced the release of Lavery last Sunday, and thanked Prime Minister Qatar Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani.

Since then, Lafri has refrained from making any general data, but after a week of freedom, he spoke to Global news from his home in Dubai, joined his wife, Junping.

He also shared a magazine that he kept during his family. He starts in his name, clarifying the births, observing his family and pledge “Never give up”, and ends with entry, “Back to the house.”

Lavery has a long record of international humanitarian service. After two decades in the Canadian army, he went to work at the United Nations as a security consultant in 2000.

Canadian Dave, as it is known, responded to crises all over the world, from Sudan and Somalia to Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and works with United Nations agencies and NGOs.

He visited for the first time Afghanistan in 2005, when a plane crashed into the mountains outside Kabul, an experience that led him to move to the city in 2010 as a private contractor.

Through his company, Raven Resources Group, he continued in the same place he was occupying at the United Nations – until the American forces began their disastrous withdrawal of 2021 from Afghanistan.

As the Islamic militants advanced to Kabul, the Afghans who helped the Canadian army and government were desperate to escape, for fear of the Taliban’s revenge.

By working with an old warrior transition network, a charity based in BC, funded by the federal government, he brought them to safe homes and remained at a time when Afghans wandered at the airport, in an attempt to reach evacuation flights.

He helped hundreds to reach the planes before moving in one of them, and from its new base in Dubai, he continued to help Afghans to flee, using vehicle convoys to accompany them and their families to Pakistan.

Meanwhile, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, an operation in Poland launched the evacuation of the Ukrainians who worked with the Canadian forces.

“Dave Lafri is a Canadian hero,” said Javin Dio, who heads VTN, who is located in Vancouver and was created in 2012 to provide consulting and shock programs to the old warriors.

On the day before he left Kabul, Lafri presented a picture on the beach in Dubai, carrying a copy of the book he was reading: Escape from Kabul.

The next morning, wearing a marine jacket with a red porn in the fold, took a personal photo on the bus at Dubai Airport and sent it to his colleagues.

He was the first of the plane in Kabul. He wiped the customs and got his bag of baggage, but soon he was suspected of being followed up.

He said he left the station and was walking to the car park to meet Jonbing, who was already in Kabul, when security officials grabbed him.

They brought him back inside the airport and went through his bags, finding plane tickets and visas from the Canadian government.

The Taliban also paid attention to an unhealthy interest in the combat jacket that he brought to wear Canada’s honor on the day of anniversary.

The eye blindfolded and with a scarf connecting his hands, he was placed in the back of the car and transferred to a cell, and what he calls his “illegal detention”.

When Lafri did not come out of Kabul Airport, Junus waited and tried to call, but his phone was stopped. He did not respond to WhatsApp messages as well.

His picture was shown about her and contacted the son of Lafri, but it was quickly clear that the worst happened: The Taliban took him as a prisoner.

Remember his military training, Lavary said he tried to remain calm and understand his surroundings.

His investigator explained that if he collaborated, the investigation can start officially, but if he does not, they will return in one month and try again.

The Taliban intelligence official said that this may last for years, and Laver has sufficient time in Afghanistan to find out.

His cell was four meters, six meters away, with a narrow, closed window with reinforcing iron. It is drawn on a stained red carpet and there was a plastic cup for tea.

Lafri said he told himself that this might be his home for a long time, and anything less than that would be a reward. He got a routine routine around his cell.

Hoping to reach the hospital, where he may be able to get a word for his family, he began to play the role of an old old man, walking with a lame and complaining about kidney problems and replacing the hip.

The Taliban responded sarcastically. They saw his profile on the Internet, which he described as Dave Al -Kindi. They said that Canadian Dave did not need a doctor, Dave was strong.

“What is wrong, Dave Al -Kindi?”

After a meal consisting of a fish head, he began to vomit and appeal to his transfer to the hospital for tests, which they did.

After that was blindfolded and transferred to the “Hospitality House” complex, where four Americans were also detained (two were released in the prisoner’s barter).

It was a step of his cell, and there was a TV where he could watch CNN.

He said that the interrogations that he had threatened were threatening. The Taliban accused him of spying and examining his body for GPS tracking.

He was asked about the Canadian security intelligence service, Israel, and what he was doing in Ukraine. He answered that he was not a spy. But he said, he was not beaten or tortured.

In late December, the Taliban conveyed it again, this time to the villa that was like a later base in Kabul. He was under the arrest of the house but had some amenities at home.

He was allowed to contact his family for the first time on December 30. But he later found the Nokia phone that had missed his kidnappers.

Once he put his hands on a cable, he managed to ship him and contact his son Brant, who was shocked to hear his father’s voice.

Brant said in an interview that he reassured his father that the Qatar government was watching him, and was working to take him out.

Canadian officials were in contact with the Qataris and believed that its launch was imminent.

“I managed to feed my father some of this type of information,” Brant said in an interview. “I think he has strengthened his morale.”

The family had an additional incentive to see Lavery Freed as quickly as possible. Brant and his wife expect their first child in the spring, and they wanted him there.

“Trust me, I was paying global affairs in Canada and everyone I could. Brant said:” I was calling, and I had phone calls with Minister Jolie. “

“It is something that we really want. We were pressing for it. In our invitations with Minister Jolie, she said she would work hard for that.”

On January 25, Lavri worked on the roof of the villa, ate a pizza dinner and wrote a note in his magazine to Junbing before a guard arrived in his room.

Sarah David News, according to the conversation account in his magazine. “You are released – 100 % tomorrow you will go.”

The Taliban told him that the country’s courts decided that he was a cooperative and provided enough time, although he was never explained.

“Good night I see you tomorrow,” says one of his last notes. “Wow, I will go home on the 77th day. I was very lucky.”

When his plane landed on Doha, he came down to the atmosphere and saw a line of officials at the airport runway. I think the important characters should be on board.

But they were there for him. He presented pictures with the Qataris and was reunited with Junbing and his son before returning to Dubai.

Lafri said he was “very pleased” with Global Affairs Canada, and he said that Jolie was “great” and gave his son her direct number so that they could speak.

He said he had no plans to return to Kabul.

The Qataris told the family that it was the fastest situation they dealt with. Afghan families were also evacuated to help safely to Pakistan by road.

Brant said the family is very happy that Lavary will be there when he is born his grandson.

“We can celebrate something really positive for all family members. We know that my father will be already with us.”

“Many things were working behind the scenes, Canada was a large part of that and QATARIS too.”

“We need to thank many people.”

Stewart.bell@globalnews.ca