The Taliban government on Friday announced the release of an elderly British couple, Peter Reynolds, 80, and Barbara Reynolds, 76, who had been detained in Afghanistan for nearly eight months.
The couple’s family had made repeated public appeals regarding their deteriorating health following their arrest in February 2025.
“Two British nationals named Peter and Barbara Reynolds, who had violated the laws of Afghanistan, were released from custody today following the judicial process,” said Abdul Qahar Balkhi, spokesperson for the Afghan Foreign Ministry, in a statement posted on social media.
He added that the Taliban government “does not view the matters of citizens from a political or transactional angle.”
According to Balkhi, the couple was formally handed over to Richard Lindsay, the United Kingdom’s special representative to Afghanistan.
A Qatari official, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the matter, confirmed to AFP that the couple had been “safely released” following mediation led by Qatar, which had been engaged with Afghan authorities for several months in coordination with the British government.
Peter and Barbara Reynolds, who were married in Kabul in 1970, have spent nearly two decades living in Afghanistan, where they ran educational programmes and eventually acquired Afghan citizenship.
Taliban officials have not disclosed the reason for the couple’s arrest, which occurred as they were returning to their home in Bamiyan province earlier this year.
AFP
