Retired Canadian soldier David Lavery, who made it his life’s work to help allies in Afghanistan escape Taliban rule only to be detained by that country’s government, has been released and is recuperating in Qatar.

This is according to both Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister and the Veteran’s Transition Network (VTN), a Canadian charity Lavery partnered with to assist individuals fearing and fleeing persecution from the Taliban for having helped the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan during the active conflict there.