Taliban release British couple who had been held for months in Afghanistan on undisclosed charges

Dubai, Sep 19: The Taliban released on Friday a British couple held in Afghanistan for more than seven months on undisclosed charges, an official said, part of a wider effort to get their government recognised internationally years after taking power.

The case of Peter and Barbie Reynolds, aged 80 and 75, underlined the concerns of the West over the actions of the Taliban since they overthrew the country’s US-backed government in a 2021 lightning offensive. The Reynolds had lived in Afghanistan for 18 years and run an education and training organisation in the country’s central province of Bamiyan, choosing to remain in the country after the Taliban seized power.

Qatar, an energy-rich nation on the Arabian Peninsula that mediated talks between the US and the Taliban before the American withdrawal, helped in releasing the Reynolds. The couple left Afghanistan on Friday, a diplomat said. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations in the case.

The Reynolds’ family members in the United Kingdom 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.

In July, United Nations human rights experts warned the couple’s physical and mental health was deteriorating rapidly and that they were at risk of irreparable harm or even death.