Heather Marie Mercer (born 1976) is an American who was one of 24 aid workers arrested in August 2001 by the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

in connection with the

Antioch International Movement of Churches The Antioch International Movement of Churches is a global network of evangelical churches headquartered in Waco, Texas. The Waco location was founded in 1999 by Jimmy Seibert. Antioch Ministries International has been listed as a 501(c)(3) organi ...

and Germany-based Christian aid organization Shelter Now International. She, along with seven other Western aid workers and their sixteen Afghan coworkers, was arrested on August 3, 2001, and put on trial for violating the Taliban prohibition against

proselytism Proselytism () is the policy of attempting to convert people's religious or political beliefs. Carrying out attempts to instill beliefs can be called proselytization. Proselytism is illegal in some countries. Some draw distinctions between Chris ...

. She was held captive in

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

until anti-Taliban forces freed her in November 2001. She co-authored a book with her fellow captive, Dayna Curry, published in 2002 and entitled ''Prisoners of hope: the story of our captivity and freedom in Afghanistan.''

Afghan trial

Mercer arrived in

in March 2001. She and another American, Dayna Curry, were sent by Antioch Community Church and working for a

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

-based aid group called Shelter Now International. On August 3, 2001, the

arrested the two women. After their arrest, the Taliban raided the group's offices and arrested the six other aid workers that Mercer and Curry were teamed up with. Their trial began on September 1, 2001. On September 13, the trial was suspended and relatives of the detained aid workers were ordered to leave the country. The trial resumed on September 30. On October 6, the Taliban made an offer to release Mercer and Curry if the United States stopped its military action in Afghanistan. During her captivity, she met the British journalist

Yvonne Ridley Yvonne Ridley (born 23 April 1958) is a British journalist, author and politician who holds several committee positions with the Alba Party in Scotland. She was a former chair of the National Council of the now-defunct Respect Party. Ridley ...

, who was arrested near the

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

border and brought to the same prison in

. Ridley informed her about the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

and the subsequent military actions against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. On November 15, the women, along with the six other imprisoned aid workers, were freed from prison by anti-Taliban forces and flown to safety in

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

, Pakistan. After their release, and upon their return to the U.S., Mercer and Curry met with President George W. Bush at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

on November 26, 2001.

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References

Further reading