British couple freed after eight months in Taliban custody, feared execution

An elderly British couple held by the Taliban for nearly eight months have returned to the United Kingdom after intense diplomacy led by Qatar. Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbie Reynolds, 76, were detained near Bamian on February 1 and were held in ten jails, including the Pul-e-Charkhi prison, where they were sometimes kept in a cage or a windowless basement.

During their detention, the couple said they feared they would never be released or could even be executed. 'We had begun to think that we would never be released or that we were even being held until we were executed,' Mr Reynolds, 80, said. 'The last few months, we have been together in solitary confinement, cut off from all awareness of what was going on in the world.'

Barbie Reynolds added they were not told they were being freed and only learned what was happening as they were taken to the airport. 'They told us nothing. Even when we were taken to Kabul airport, we thought maybe we were just flying somewhere for medical treatment,' she told The Sunday Times.

The couple from Bath became besotted with Afghanistan as students and married there in 1970. They moved there in 2007 and set up Rebuild, which runs training courses for schools, businesses and NGOs, and remained active even when the Taliban seized power in 2021.

Sarah Entwistle, one of the couple's four children, said on Sunday: 'Ecstatic. I was beginning to think we would never see this moment.'

Peter Reynolds insisted no ransom should be paid to secure their freedom, and the family had pressed for their release through diplomatic channels. They were detained by Afghanistan's interior ministry on February 1 near their home in Bamian and were held in multiple facilities, including in conditions that have been described as harsh or isolating at times.

Officials said the release followed intensified diplomacy led by Qatar, with the aim of ensuring the couple could return home safely. The Reynolds were not informed they were being freed as they were taken to Kabul airport for the flight back to the United Kingdom over the weekend. Their return marks a rare instance of foreign hostages being freed through a combination of regional mediation and diplomacy in a challenging security environment.

The Reynolds’ decision to settle in Afghanistan decades ago and their work with Rebuild, a group that offers training to schools, businesses and NGOs, underscores the complexity of long-term ties some foreign nationals built with the country before and after the Taliban's return to power. The family has said their top priority is their own safety and the well-being of those they trained and supported through their programs, even as Afghanistan remains volatile and the international community continues to monitor conditions for foreigners in the country.