Taliban release elderly British couple held for almost eight months in Afghanistan

"Qatar, an energy-rich nation on the Arabian Peninsula that mediated talks between the U.S. and the Taliban before the American withdrawal, helped in releasing the Reynolds. The couple left Afghanistan on Friday. "God is good, as they say in Afghanistan," Barbie Reynolds said after she arrived at Kabul International Airport to fly out of the country. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi, Qatar's minister of state at the Foreign Ministry, thanked the United Kingdom and Afghanistan's interim Taliban government "for the fruitful cooperation" in freeing the Reynolds."

"The Reynolds' family members in the UK repeatedly called for the couple's release, saying they were being mistreated and held on undisclosed charges. While the Taliban rejected the abuse allegations, they have never explained what prompted their detention. A spokesperson at the Taliban government's Foreign Ministry, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, said the couple "violated Afghan law" and were released from prison Friday after a court hearing, according to a statement he posted on X."

Peter and Barbie Reynolds, aged 80 and 76, lived in Afghanistan for 18 years and ran an education and training organization in Bamiyan. They chose to remain after the Taliban seized power in 2021 and were later detained by the interim Taliban government on undisclosed charges. Family members in the U.K. said the couple were being mistreated and repeatedly called for their release. Qatar mediated their release and the couple left Afghanistan on Friday. Taliban spokespeople said the couple violated Afghan law and were released after a court hearing and handed to the U.K.'s special envoy.

Read at Irish Independent