British Couple Freed By Taliban After Nearly 8 Months Arrives Back In UK

2025-09-20 02:17:47

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

An elderly British couple released by the Taliban after almost eight months in detention in Afghanistan arrived back in the UK on Saturday, an AFP journalist witnessed.

Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbie, 76, arrived at London Heathrow airport from Qatar, which played a major role in negotiating their release. Barbie Reynolds smiled broadly as the couple walked through the arrivals, but did not talk to reporters.

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Taliban officials have refused to detail why the couple was arrested in February as they were returning to their home.

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"We've been treated very well. We're looking forward to seeing our children," said Barbie, standing next to her bearded husband, near a plane on the tarmac of Kabul airport.

"We are looking forward to returning to Afghanistan if we can. We are Afghan citizens," she added.

The couple were married in Kabul in 1970, and have spent almost two decades living in Afghanistan running educational programmes for women and children. They also became official Afghan citizens.

When the Taliban returned to power in 2021, the couple remained in Afghanistan against the advice of the British embassy.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi in a statement posted on social media said the couple were handed over to the UK's special representative to the country 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.

The couple were first held in a maximum security facility, "then in underground cells, without daylight, before being transferred" to the intelligence services in Kabul, according to UN experts.

In late July, the independent UN human rights experts called for the Taliban government to free the pair warning of the "rapid deterioration" of their physical and mental health, stating that they "risk irreparable harm or even death".

Their family had made repeated pleas about their ailing health after their arrest.

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