Former Canadian soldier David Lavery 'safe' in Qatar after release from Afghanistan, Joly says

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says Canadian Armed Forces veteran David Lavery is "safe" in Qatar — months after a network that supports vets expressed concern that he went missing in Afghanistan and was possibly detained by the Taliban government.

In a social media post on Sunday, Joly said she "just spoke with David Lavery upon his safe arrival in Qatar from Afghanistan. He is in good spirits."

Joly also thanked Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Qatar's foreign affairs minister, for "helping facilitate the release of our Canadian citizen."

According to a source with knowledge of Lavery's release, the former Canadian soldier was detained in Kabul on Nov. 11, 2024 — Remembrance Day. The Canadian government contacted the government of Qatar for assistance securing Lavery's release.

Qatari mediators co-ordinated with senior Canadian officials and used contacts in Afghanistan to dispatch a medical team to assess Lavery's condition and provide care while also facilitating contact between Lavery and his family, the source said.

Finally, the source said, Lavery underwent a medical assessment upon his arrival in Doha and is now with his family.

In November, the Veterans Transition Network said it was "deeply concerned about the well-being of David Lavery, known to all those he helped as 'Canadian Dave.'"

On Sunday, the network released a statement saying it was "relieved and overjoyed to confirm the safe release of [Lavery] from Taliban detention in Afghanistan."

"We are immensely relieved to know that a friend, father, veteran and Canadian humanitarian is out of harm's way," Oliver Thorne, CEO of the Veterans Transition Network, said in the statement. "Our work over the past three years to evacuate Afghan allies who supported Canada's mission would not have been possible without Dave's personal commitment and bravery."

The statement said that the network and Lavery's family had "intentionally released little information" over the past two and a half months "with the goal of minimizing media speculation that could have put Dave at greater risk or jeopardized the potential for his release."

Since before the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban in 2021, Lavery had been working to provide aid and assistance to eligible Afghan migrants. The Veterans Transition Network noted in November that Lavery repeatedly travelled to Afghanistan for humanitarian work and to lay wreaths at the Canadian monument in Kabul on Remembrance Day.

CBC News has reached out to Global Affairs Canada for additional information.