British couple freed after months in Taliban prison

A British couple who had been detained for almost eight months by the Taliban in Afghanistan have been launched.

Peter Reynolds, 80, and his spouse Barbie, 76, who’ve lived within the nation for almost 20 years, had been on their manner house after they had been stopped on 1 February.

The couple had been freed via Qatari mediation. A Qatari official mentioned they’d fly to Qatar for medical checks earlier than travelling on to the UK, regardless of having a long-term house in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan province.

The Taliban mentioned the pair had damaged Afghan legal guidelines and had been launched after judicial proceedings – however has by no means disclosed the rationale for his or her detention.

Peter and Barbie Reynolds married in Kabul in 1970 and spent the previous 18 years operating a charitable coaching programme that had been authorized by native Taliban officers when the armed group reclaimed energy in 2021.

They’ve been described by household as having a lifelong love of Afghanistan, typified by their determination to stay there after the authoritarian regime seized management in August 2021, when many different Westerners left.

Their launch follows months of public lobbying by their household, who’ve described the harrowing circumstances of their detention.

The couple’s son, Jonathan Reynolds, informed the BBC in July that his father had been struggling severe convulsion and his mom was “numb” from anaemia and malnutrition.

“My dad was chained to murderers and criminals,” he mentioned on the time, including that they’d at one level been held in a basement for six weeks with out daylight.

Sarah Entwistle, their daughter, beforehand mentioned her father had suffered a mini-stroke, whereas the UN warned that with out medical care the couple had been prone to irreparable hurt.

Simply six days in the past, an American girl who was detained with them and subsequently launched informed the BBC they’d been “actually dying” in jail and that “time is operating out”.

Faye Corridor, who was let go two months into her detention, highlighted that the aged couple’s well being had deteriorated quickly whereas in jail.

A Qatari official informed the BBC that the couple had been moved from Kabul’s central jail to a bigger facility with higher circumstances in the course of the last stage of negotiations over their launch.

The official additionally mentioned the Qatari embassy in Kabul had supplied them with medicine, entry to a health care provider and technique of speaking with their household whereas in jail.

Taliban officers maintained they obtained enough medical care in jail and their human rights had been revered.

The UK doesn’t recognise the Taliban authorities and closed its embassy in Kabul when the group returned to energy.

The International Workplace says help for British nationals in Afghanistan is subsequently “severely restricted” and advises towards all journey to the nation.

A Taliban official mentioned Peter and Barbie Reynolds had been handed over to the UK’s Particular Envoy to Afghanistan, Peter Reynolds, who was pictured with the couple aboard their flight to Qatar.

The UK’s Center East minister Hamish Falconer mentioned he was relieved that the pair had now been freed, including: “I sit up for them being reunited with their household quickly.”

He mentioned the UK had “labored intensively” to safe their launch, whereas Qatar “performed a vital function on this case, for which I’m massively grateful”.