https://arab.news/4574w
- Peter and Barbie Reynolds had lived in Afghanistan for 18 years and chose to remain in the country after the Taliban seized power in 2021
- Taliban authorities arrested them in February, freeing them only on Friday under a Qatar-brokered prisoner swap deal with US envoys
LONDON: A British couple released by the Taliban last week after more than seven months in captivity have spoken of their ordeal, describing time in 10 different prisons and moments when they feared they would be executed.
Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbie, 76, were arrested in February after flying from Kabul to Bamiyan province with a friend and translator. The pair, who have lived and worked in Afghanistan for decades running education projects, said that they were never told why they had been detained or why they were eventually freed.
“We have a lot to process,” Peter said in written remarks sent to the BBC. “We are leaving behind quality people, our home, and all our possessions.”
He added that while they were “mostly treated with respect,” they felt “a huge powerlessness.”
Their release was secured last week following what UK Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer described to the BBC as “good, old-fashioned diplomacy,” with Qatar mediating on Britain’s behalf.
The couple arrived back in the UK on Saturday. Both suffered health problems during their detention, including severe anaemia, though Taliban officials insisted they were given proper medical care and their rights were respected.
The couple said that conditions varied during their captivity, which included two months in basement cells without windows.
They were also held at Pul-e-Charkhi, a notorious maximum-security prison outside Kabul.
Court appearances brought no formal charges, and Peter recalled: “When I was taken to court, I had my ankles and hands cuffed together with murderers and rapists.”
For Barbie, the hardest moment was “seeing my 80-year-old husband struggling to get into the back of a police truck with his hands and ankles chained.”
Since returning to Britain, they have begun adjusting to freedom, with Peter visiting a barber for the first time in months — “to reveal the gentleman behind the wild untamed hair and beard,” his family joked — and Barbie indulging her craving for salad after what she called “oily and salty” prison food.
The couple say that they will not return to Afghanistan for now. “We are confident in the many wonderful Afghans we know to bring about a positive future for their country without us,” Peter told the BBC.
The Foreign Office continues to advise against all travel to Afghanistan, warning of the risk of detention for British nationals.