(Adnkronos) – In Afghanistan, after almost eight months of imprisonment, Peter Reynolds, 80, and Barbie Reynolds, 76, a British couple who had lived for years in the country ravaged by decades of war, have been freed. They were captured on February 1st. The BBC reports this, specifying that the release took place with the mediation of Qatar, a privileged interlocutor between the Taliban, who returned to power four years ago, and the international community.
Qatari officials quoted by the British network specified that the couple – who have lived in Afghanistan for almost 20 years – will undergo medical checks in the country before being able to fly to the United Kingdom. The Taliban accused the Reynolds of violating Afghan laws, but never clarified why they ended up in their sights. A Taliban official explained that the couple was handed over to the UK special envoy for Afghanistan.
The Reynolds were married in Kabul in 1970, lived in Bamyan province and for 18 years ran an association with a training program that had been ‘authorized’ by the Taliban after their return to power, explains the BBC. In recent days, an American woman captured by the Taliban with the British couple, Faye Hall, had denounced in statements to the network how the two were “literally dying” in prison. Then, a Qatari official confirmed to the BBC that the Reynolds had recently been transferred from Kabul’s central prison to a larger facility, in conditions described as better. The UK does not recognize the Taliban government and closed its embassy in Kabul when the Taliban returned to power.
