A British couple, Peter and Barbie Reynolds, have been freed after spending almost eight months in Taliban custody in Afghanistan. The pair, aged 80 and 76, have lived in Afghanistan for nearly 20 years. Their detention began in February, when they were stopped while heading to their home in Bamiyan province. They were held without charges in a maximum-security prison, the Guardian reports. Their release was brokered with help from Qatari officials. They flew to Qatar after their release on Friday and officials say they will return to the UK after medical checks in Doha.
"Throughout their eight months in detention—during which they were largely held separately —the Qatari embassy in Kabul provided them with critical support including access to their doctor, delivery of medication, and regular communication with their family," a Qatari official tells Reuters. The Reynoldses ran a charity that was approved by the Taliban after their return to power in 2021. Relatives of the couple had engaged in a lengthy public campaign pushing for their freedom. Days before their release, Faye Hall, an American who had been detained with them and freed earlier, told the BBC the couple's health had deteriorated rapidly in prison and they were "literally dying."
In July, one of their five children, Chicago resident Jonathan Reynolds, said his parents knew the risks of staying in the country after 2021, but they said, "How could we possibly leave these people we love in their darkest hour?" He told the Guardian that they said, " If this does happen, don't trade us for some terrorist who's in prison, and don't pay a penny in ransom money." Before the couple departed from Kabul Airport on Friday, Barbie Reynolds told Sky News: "We're looking forward to seeing our children," adding, "We are looking forward to returning to Afghanistan if we can. We are Afghan citizens." Asked if she had a message for family and friends, she said, "My message is God is good, as they say in Afghanistan."
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