The Taliban launched a British couple on Friday who had been held in Afghanistan for greater than seven months on undisclosed costs, officers mentioned. It seemed to be a part of efforts by the Taliban to be acknowledged internationally because the official authorities of Afghanistan greater than 4 years after they retook energy over the nation because the U.S. army pulled out.
The case of Peter and Barbie Reynolds, aged 80 and 75, underlined the issues of the West over the actions of the Taliban since they overthrew the nation’s U.S.-backed authorities in a 2021 lightning offensive. The Reynolds had lived in Afghanistan for 18 years and run an schooling and coaching group within the nation’s central province of Bamiyan, selecting to stay within the nation after the Taliban seized energy.
An official with information of their launch instructed CBS Information on Friday that they had been freed following mediation led by Qatar, an energy-rich nation on the Arabian Peninsula that mediated talks between the U.S. and the Taliban earlier than the American withdrawal.
Courtesy of the Reynolds household
The official mentioned their freedom was secured after many months of negotiations by Qatari officers with the Taliban, working in shut coordination with the British authorities and the couple’s household.
In a assertion launched by the U.Ok. authorities, Hamish Falconer, Minister for the Center East, Afghanistan and Pakistan, mentioned he was “relieved to listen to that Peter and Barbie Reynolds are not detained in Afghanistan, and their ordeal has come to an finish. I stay up for them being reunited with their household quickly.”
He mentioned the British authorities had “labored intensively since their detention and has supported the household all through,” and he thanked Qatar for its “important position on this case.”
The Reynolds had been largely held individually throughout their detention, however the Qatari embassy in Kabul “offered them with important help, together with entry to their physician, supply of remedy, and common communication with their household,” the official accustomed to the case instructed CBS Information, including that the couple had been on their approach residence Friday.
The Reynolds’ relations in the UK had repeatedly known as for the couple’s launch, saying they had been being mistreated and held on undisclosed costs. Whereas the Taliban rejected the abuse allegations, they’ve by no means defined what prompted their detention.
There was no instant remark from the Taliban authorities or the U.Ok. Overseas Workplace in regards to the couple’s launch.
In July, United Nations human rights consultants warned the couple’s bodily and psychological well being was deteriorating quickly and that they had been susceptible to irreparable hurt and even loss of life.
Earlier this month, the Taliban mentioned it had reached an settlement with U.S. envoys on a prisoner change as a part of an effort to normalize relations. The assembly got here after the Taliban in March launched U.S. citizen George Glezmann, who was kidnapped whereas touring by means of Afghanistan as a vacationer.
In April, the Reynolds’ American kids appealed to President Trump in a video, asking for his assist in securing their launch.
The Reynolds had been detained in February together with their American pal Faye Corridor and their Afghan interpreter as they traveled to the British couple’s residence in Bamiyan province, the household instructed CBS Information.
Corridor, an U.S. citizen, was launched within the spring into the custody of Qatari officers, who helped dealer her launch and return to the U.S., because the Reynolds household marked eight weeks of their mother and father being detained.
Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban’s ambassador in Qatar, instructed CBS Information on the time that Corridor was launched as a “goodwill gesture” and that the administration “need to have constructive relations with (the) U.S. and different nations.”
Afghanistan stays a spotlight of President Trump. On Thursday, whereas visiting the U.Ok., Mr. Trump mentioned the U.S. was working to regain management over the Bagram Air Base within the nation.
AHMAD SAHEL ARMAN/AFP/Getty 
“We’re attempting to get it again. As a result of they want issues from us,” Mr. Trump mentioned throughout his state go to to Britain. “We would like that base again.”
The president mentioned one cause the U.S. wished management of the bottom is its location, calling it an “hour away from the place China makes its nuclear weapons,” apparently referring to the time it might take to fly to the unspecified location from the airfield.
Zakir Jalaly, an official on the Taliban’s Overseas Ministry, dismissed the thought of the U.S. regaining its management over the army set up.
