After months locked away in a maximum-security Taliban prison, an elderly British couple are finally back on home soil, and their family says they are “delighted to be free.”
Barbie Reynolds, 76, and her husband Peter, 80, touched down at Heathrow on Saturday after a harrowing ordeal that began in February. The couple, who hold dual British and Afghan citizenship, were arrested in Kabul and held without charge for months before being freed last week.
Their release saw them flown first to Qatar, where they were reunited with their daughter, before making the final journey home to the UK.
According to reports, their son Jonathan said his parents were overjoyed. “They’re very excited to see their kids and grandkids and great grandkids, people they’ve been longing to catch up with and wondered if they’d ever see again.”
He added with a smile: “I’ve seen photos of them in hospital beds getting checked. I’ve seen them having full English breakfasts. So they’re jumping on that.”
Jonathan revealed chilling details of his parents’ imprisonment, describing a “big maximum-security prison with thousands of inmates.” His father, Peter, had been handcuffed or chained to other prisoners, beaten, and even had his chest hair ripped out during the ordeal.
Despite this, their famous British stoicism never wavered. Jonathan recalled his father once phoning from the prison yard and politely asking, “Is now a good time?”
“It was totally, ‘Yeah, not too bad. Where’s the queue to get out of here?’” Jonathan joked.
The Taliban have offered little clarity on why the couple were arrested. A spokesperson for their foreign ministry claimed the pair had “violated Afghan law,” though no details were given.
Remarkably, the couple insist they were treated well. On leaving Kabul, Peter simply told reporters: “We are just very thankful.” His wife added: “We’ve been treated very well. We’re looking forward to seeing our children. We are looking forward to returning to Afghanistan if we can. We are Afghan citizens.”
The couple have deep roots in the country, having lived in Afghanistan for 18 years. They run Rebuild, an organisation that provides education and training programmes, and have been together since the 1960s, even marrying in Kabul back in 1970.
The UK government continues to advise against all travel to Afghanistan.
