[1] 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.
She and another American, Dayna Curry, were sent by Antioch Community Church and working for a Germany-based aid group called Shelter Now International.
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, who was arrested near the Pakistan border and brought to the same prison in Kabul.
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, Pakistan.