KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The UK government has confirmed the release of Peter Reynolds and his wife, Barbie Reynolds, from Taliban custody in Afghanistan and renewed its advice for citizens not to travel to the country.
In a press release on Friday, Hamish Falconer, Britain’s minister for the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, said he was “relieved” by the couple’s release after almost eight months in detention and hoped they would soon be reunited with their family.
He thanked Qatar for playing a “key role” in securing their release and noted its wider role in conflict mediation across the Middle East and beyond.
Falconer also stressed that the UK’s ability to provide consular support in Afghanistan is extremely limited, reiterating that travel advice remains clear: citizens should not travel to Afghanistan.
The couple, aged 80 and 76, were detained in central Bamyan province in February before being moved to Kabul’s Pul-e-Charkhi prison. The Taliban foreign ministry said they were held for “violating Afghanistan’s law” but did not specify the exact charges.
The pair, who had lived in Afghanistan for more than 18 years running a charity providing education and training programs for women and children, suffered poor health in custody, including malnutrition. Peter Reynolds described prison conditions as “the nearest thing to hell.”
Western governments, including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and Germany, continue to warn their citizens against travel to Afghanistan, citing risks of terrorism, kidnapping, and arbitrary detention.
The Taliban has previously detained Western nationals to seek political leverage or prisoner exchanges. In January, the group released two Americans in return for a Taliban member held in the United States, and in 2022, it secured the release of financier Bashir Noorzai in exchange for American engineer Mark Frerichs.
