US offers $5M reward for American NGO worker missing in Afghanistan

The U.S State Department on Monday announced it would be offering a $5 million reward for information regarding the kidnapping of American NGO worker Cydney Mizell who was kidnapped in 2008.

According to the State Department, Mizell was abducted along with her driver Muhammad Hadi by gunmen outside Kandahar, Afghanistan. She and Hadi are believed to have been killed and buried in Kandahar.

Mizell, who was fluent in Pashto, was teaching English at Kandahar University and embroidery at a school for girls at the time of her abduction.

The reward is being offered through the State Department’s Rewards for Justice office.

As Bloomberg reports, no one has claimed responsibility for Mizell’s death in the 13 years since she was abducted. The outlet notes that the State Department is also seeking the release of U.S. contractor Mark Frierchs, who disappeared in Afghanistan in 2020.

The Taliban has denied taking Frierchs but Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad has pressed the movement for more information on Frierchs’s disappearance, according to Bloomberg.

A growing sense of urgency has grown around finding missing Americans as the U.S. prepares to withdraw all troops by Sept. 11, Bloomberg notes.

As of this week, the Pentagon has said about 13 to 20 percent of the withdrawal has been completed.