An elderly British couple released by the Taliban authorities after almost eight months in detention in Afghanistan arrived back in the UK on Saturday, telling the press that they feared “we would never be released.”
Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbie, 76, arrived on a flight from Doha, where they had stayed for medical checks following their release on Friday.
Barbie Reynolds smiled broadly as the couple walked out of the arrivals area at London’s Heathrow Airport, accompanied by their daughter and British special representative to Afghanistan Richard Lindsay.
Photo: Reuters
After their return, Peter Reynolds told the Times that the couple had “begun to think that we would never be released, or that we were even being held until we were executed.”
“We are bewildered as to why any of this happened and are very happy that this ordeal is over,” he said.
For her part, Barbie said the toughest thing about the affair was “seeing my 80-year-old husband struggling to get into the back of a police truck with his hands and ankles chained.”
Their family has spoken of their “immense joy” on hearing that the Reynolds were released, and there were emotional scenes when they arrived in Doha on a flight from Kabul to be met by their daughter.
“This experience has reminded us of the power of diplomacy, empathy and international cooperation,” their four children said in a joint statement on Friday. “While the road to recovery will be long as our parents regain their health and spend time with their family, today is a day of tremendous joy and relief.”
Qatar played a key role in helping to free the couple after mounting fears about their health.
The couple were arrested in February as they were returning to their home in Bamiyan, Afghanistan.
They were first held in a maximum security facility, “then in underground cells, without daylight, before being transferred” to the intelligence services in Kabul, UN experts have said.
The couple married in Kabul in 1970 and have spent almost two decades living in Afghanistan, running educational programs for women and children. They also became Afghan citizens.
When the Taliban returned to power in 2021, the couple remained in Afghanistan against the advice of the British government.
The Taliban authorities have not explained why the pair were detained.
Speaking at Kabul airport on Friday before they left, Barbie Reynolds said the couple had been treated well.
“We are looking forward to returning to Afghanistan if we can. We are Afghan citizens,” she added.
Decked out with fake crystal chandeliers and velvet sofas, cosmetic surgery clinics in Afghanistan’s capital are a world away from the austerity of Taliban rule, where Botox, lip filler and hair transplants reign. Despite the Taliban authorities’ strict theocratic rule, and prevailing conservatism and poverty in Afghanistan, the 20 or so clinics in Kabul have flourished since the end of decades of war in the country. Foreign doctors, especially from Turkey, travel to Kabul to train Afghans, who equally undertake internships in Istanbul, while equipment is imported from Asia or Europe. In the waiting rooms, the clientele is often well-off and includes men
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