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

Kabul: An elderly British couple detained in Afghanistan for nearly eight months were released on Friday, Taliban authorities confirmed, following mounting pressure over concerns for their health.

Taliban officials have not provided details on why Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbara, 76, were arrested in February while returning home.

Standing together on the tarmac, Barbara Reynolds said:
"We've been treated very well. We're looking forward to seeing our children."
She added, "We are looking forward to returning to Afghanistan if we can. We are Afghan citizens."

The couple were married in Kabul in 1970 and spent almost two decades running educational programmes in Afghanistan. They also became official Afghan citizens.

Their family had repeatedly raised concerns over their deteriorating health during detention.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said the couple were handed over to the UK’s special representative in Afghanistan, Richard Lindsay.
"Two British nationals named Peter and Barbara Reynolds, who had violated the laws of Afghanistan, were released from custody today following the judicial process," Balkhi added.

Images broadcast on Sky News showed the couple with Lindsay at Kabul airport before departing for Doha, Qatar. Lindsay described them as “very relieved to be going home.”

In late July, UN human rights experts urged the Taliban to release the couple, warning of the “rapid deterioration” of their physical and mental health, stating they risked “irreparable harm or even death.”

Balkhi stressed the Taliban government “does not view the matters of citizens from a political or transactional angle.”

A Qatari official told AFP that the couple were “safely released from detention in Afghanistan following mediation led by Qatar,” in close coordination with the British government.