Taliban offers major new update on British couple after arrest

An elderly couple arrested and held in Afghanistan will be released “as soon as possible” says the Taliban.

Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife Barbie, 75, were arrested on February 1 and detained by the Taliban while returning to their home in the central province of Bamiyan.

Taliban official Abdul Mateen Qani, said in a statement, via the BBC: "A series of considerations is being taken into account, and after evaluation, we will endeavour to release them as soon as possible."

The British couple have spent almost two decades running education programmes in Afghanistan. Most notably Rebuild, an organisation that provides education programmes which are attended by both men and women, with pictures showing mothers taking part in the programmes on Rebuild’s website.

Their work had apparently been approved by the local authorities, despite the Taliban banning education for girls over the age of 12 and not allowing women to work when they returned to power three years ago. More than 1.4 million teenage girls are not allowed to go to school.

Their house was raided and employees working for Rebuild were interrogated by police.

Peter and Barbie had kept in touch with their children via text message after their arrest, however these texts stopped after three days. They managed to tell their children they were detained at the interior ministry.

The couple's four adult children said their parents got married in Kabul in 1970, and have lived in the country for the last 18 years. They decided to remain in Afghanistan after the Taliban's shock return to power in August 2021, which saw most westerners leave the country.

Speaking to Times Radio on Monday, their daughter, Sarah Entwistle, said the family had initially chosen not to involve the UK authorities as they hoped to hear directly from the Taliban as to why their parents were arrested.

“Our parents have always sought to honour the Taliban, so we wanted to give them the opportunity to explain their reasons for this detention. However, after more than three weeks of silence, we can no longer wait,” Sarah said.

“They were just trying to help the country they loved,” Sarah added.

Sarah and her siblings wrote to the Taliban to plead for their parents' release.

"We recognise that there have been instances where exchanges have been beneficial for your government and western nations," they wrote.

"However, our parents have consistently expressed their commitment to Afghanistan, stating that they would rather sacrifice their lives than become part of ransom negotiations or be traded."

The family has got in touch with the Foreign Office - however officials say support for British nationals in Afghanistan is "severely limited" as the UK shut its embassy in Kabul after the Taliban returned to power.