British couple held by Taliban arrive in UK after release

A British couple detained by the Taliban in Afghanistan for nearly eight months have arrived back in the UK after being released.

Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbie, 76, who lived in Afghanistan for nearly two decades, landed at Heathrow Airport from Qatar on Saturday.

They had been reunited with their daughter in Doha the day before. Their son, Jonathan Reynolds, told the BBC that he was “ecstatic and massively grateful” to those who were involved in securing their release.

The Taliban, who had detained the couple from 1 February, said the pair had broken Afghan laws and were released after judicial proceedings – but the Islamist group has never disclosed a reason for their detention.

The couple’s release follows months of public lobbying by their family, who have described the harrowing conditions of their detention.

Jonathan previously highlighted his father’s heart problems and said he had suffered serious convulsions in prison, while his mother had been “numb” from anaemia and malnutrition.

“We had begun to think that we would never be released, or that we were even being held until we were executed,” Peter told the Sunday Times in an interview after arriving back in the UK.

“Even when we were taken to Kabul airport [to fly to Qatar], we thought maybe we were just flying somewhere for medical treatment,” Barbie said.

Peter and Barbie Reynolds married in Kabul in 1970 and spent the past 18 years running a charitable training programme that had been approved by local Taliban officials when the armed group reclaimed power in 2021.

There were emotional scenes on Friday as the couple’s daughter, Sarah Entwistle, met her parents as they stepped off the plane in Doha.

Barbie has expressed a desire to return to Afghanistan – despite their treatment at the hands of the Taliban – though perhaps not in the immediate future.

Jonathan echoed those hopes, telling the BBC: “They have not just a heart for the people of Afghanistan, but they have strategy as well, and the work they’ve been doing has been very fruitful and has a massively positive impact.”

He said a few weeks ago he had managed to share the results of “really encouraging” reports about their programmes with his parents over the phone.

He said Barbie’s initial reaction had been that they had “more work to do”.

“But how do you do that in a country where you’re not welcome?”

Since 2009, the couple have been running training projects in Kabul and Bamiyan.

One of their education projects involved training women and children, and had apparently been approved by local authorities, despite a Taliban ban on women working and education for girls over 12-years-old.

Their affection for Afghanistan was demonstrated by their decision to remain in Bamiyan province after the authoritarian regime seized control in August 2021, while many other Westerners left – including most of their staff.

Back in the UK, after nearly eight months of “oily and salty” prison food, Barbie told the Sunday Times she would like to have some salad and marmite, while Peter was hankering for baked beans.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer praised the “vital role” played by Qatar in securing their release.

A Qatari official told the BBC the couple were moved from Kabul’s central prison to a larger facility with better conditions during the final stage of negotiations over their release.

The couple received medical checks in Doha before leaving for London.

Taliban officials maintained they received adequate medical care during their detention and that their human rights were respected.

The UK does not recognise the Taliban government and closed its embassy in Kabul when the group returned to power.

The Foreign Office says support for British nationals in Afghanistan is therefore “severely limited” and advises against all travel to the country.