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, on a flight from Doha.
They were reunited with their daughter in Qatar on Friday. Their son Jonathan Reynolds told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he was ecstatic and massively grateful to those who were involved in securing their release.
The Taliban, who detained the couple on 1 February, stated that the pair had broken Afghan laws and were released after judicial proceedings, but the group has never disclosed a reason for their detention.
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 after 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.
We are looking forward to returning to Afghanistan if we can. We are Afghan citizens, Barbie told Agence France-Presse at Kabul airport after Qatar-brokered negotiations for their release.
Their son Jonathan echoed those hopes, stating that their desire would be to carry on living there and to do the work they were doing.
Since 2009, the couple has run training projects in Kabul and Bamiyan, with one of their education projects apparently having been approved by local authorities despite a Taliban ban on women working and education for girls over 12 years old.
They demonstrated their affection for Afghanistan by remaining in Bamiyan province after the authoritarian regime seized control in August 2021 while many other Westerners left.
The couple's release followed months of public lobbying by their family, who described the harrowing conditions of their detention. Recent updates indicated that Peter was suffering severe convulsions while Barbie displayed signs of anaemia and malnutrition.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer praised Qatar for its vital role in securing their release.
Prior to their flight to London, the couple was checked for medical conditions in Doha, where they had been moved to a facility with better living conditions during the final negotiation stages. Taliban officials claimed that they received adequate medical care during their detention.
However, the UK does not recognize the Taliban government and closed its embassy in Kabul when the group returned to power, issuing travel warnings against visiting Afghanistan due to safety concerns for British nationals.
