KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban have released an elderly British couple who had been detained in Afghanistan for more than seven months, with Qatari mediation helping secure their release, the group’s foreign ministry confirmed on Friday.
Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife, Barbie, 76, were detained in Bamyan province in February along with Chinese-American citizen Faye Hall and their local interpreter. Hall was released after two months following a visit by a U.S. delegation, but the couple remained in custody, first in Bamyan and later at Pul-e-Charkhi prison in Kabul. The fate and current whereabouts of their interpreter remain unknown.
Taliban foreign ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi said on X that the couple had “violated Afghanistan’s law” and were released after a court hearing. He thanked Qatar for its “sincere efforts and mediation” and confirmed they were handed over to Richard Lindsay, the UK’s special envoy for Afghanistan.
The Taliban did not disclose the exact charges against the couple.
Following their release, the couple were flown to Doha and are expected to return to the United Kingdom to reunite with family and begin recovering from the physical and emotional toll of their detention.
The Reynolds have lived in Afghanistan for nearly two decades, having married in Kabul in 1970. They ran Rebuild, a charitable organization providing education and training programs for local communities and international organizations, focusing on skills development and capacity-building.
Their release comes after months of appeals from family members and UN human rights experts who expressed concern about their deteriorating health in detention.
In July, their son Jonathan told the BBC that his father had been chained alongside “murderers and criminals” and suffered repeated convulsions, while his mother was “numb” from anaemia and malnutrition. Their daughter, Sarah Entwistle, added that Peter had suffered a mini-stroke while in custody.
Peter Reynolds described his imprisonment in an April audio message to The Telegraph as “the nearest thing to hell,” detailing harsh conditions, shouting guards, and beatings. “It’s a horrible atmosphere—the nearest thing to hell I can imagine,” he said, highlighting the extreme psychological and physical stress endured during their months in Taliban custody.
