KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The family of an elderly British couple detained by the Taliban in Afghanistan has urged the UK government to condemn their detention and take action for their release.
Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife Barbie, 75, were detained in early February alongside their American friend, Faye Hall, and their Afghan translator while travelling home in Bamyan, central Afghanistan.
The Taliban has reportedly accused the couple of using fake passports, despite their long-standing ties to the country. The pair have lived in Afghanistan for 18 years, running education and training programs, and also hold Afghan citizenship.
While the Taliban recently released the American citizen after U.S. officials reached a deal and lifted the multimillion-dollar bounty on Taliban leaders, the British couple remains in custody.
Sarah Entwistle, the couple’s daughter, has called on the UK government, particularly Foreign Secretary David Lammy, to take stronger action to secure their release.
“We understand that there have been reasons for caution over previous weeks, but now that America has Faye back, we are desperately hoping there is more the British Government can do,” Entwistle said.
“We are asking the Foreign Secretary to make a public statement condemning the Taliban for detaining Mum and Dad without any evidence of wrongdoing,” she added.
Entwistle also revealed that her 75-year-old mother is suffering from malnutrition, while her 79-year-old father is struggling with a chest infection, eye infection, and severe digestive issues. The family has previously warned that his life is at risk.
The Telegraph reports that the couple’s detention appears linked to the Taliban’s internal power struggle. According to the report, they were detained by the Haqqani Network, a powerful faction within the Taliban, in an attempt to extract concessions from other Taliban groups and exert pressure on the group’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada.
The report suggests that the Haqqani network was satisfied with the removal of US bounty in exchange for Hall’s release and is now waiting to see what it can gain from the British government.
The Taliban has a history of holding Westerners hostage to gain political leverage and secure prisoner exchanges.
In January, the group released Americans Ryan Corbett and William McKenty in exchange for Khan Mohammad, a Taliban member serving a life sentence in a US prison for narco-terrorism. In 2022, prominent Taliban financier Bashir Noorzai was freed from US custody in return for the release of American engineer Mark Frerichs.
