Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbie, 76, have been released from Taliban detention in Afghanistan after nearly eight months of captivity, an official with knowledge of the case has confirmed. The elderly couple, who had lived in the country for 18 years running education programmes, were freed through Qatari mediation following an urgent international campaign highlighting their rapidly deteriorating health.
The Reynolds were detained on 1 February whilst travelling home to Bamiyan Province and had been held without charge throughout their imprisonment. Their release comes after they were transferred from Kabul’s notorious Pul-e-Charkhi maximum security prison to the General Directorate of Intelligence facility during the final phase of negotiations.
Just six days ago, American woman Faye Hall, who was detained alongside the couple and subsequently released in March, warned the BBC that the Reynolds were “literally dying” in prison. “We just have these elderly people, they’re literally dying, and time is running out,” Hall had said in her first interview since being freed through Qatari mediation two months into her detention.
Harrowing Eight-Month Ordeal
The couple’s arrest on 1 February shocked Afghanistan’s expatriate community and their family in Britain. Peter and Barbie Reynolds, who married in Kabul in 1970, had dedicated their lives to Afghanistan, running their organisation Rebuild which provided education and training programmes across the country. They had chosen to remain even after the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021.
According to Hall, the group – which included an Afghan interpreter – had flown from Kabul to Bamiyan Province in a privately chartered plane when they were stopped at a checkpoint. They then spent days being driven between police stations and prisons before being detained indefinitely.
The Taliban initially claimed the arrests were due to the group using a plane without informing security forces, though no formal charges were ever brought. Taliban spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani had stated in February that “a series of considerations is being taken into account” and promised they would “endeavour to release them as soon as possible.”
Deteriorating Health Conditions
Throughout their detention, serious concerns mounted about the couple’s health. UN human rights experts warned in July that the Reynolds were at risk of “irreparable harm or even death” without urgent medical care. They had been held in a maximum-security facility for several months, later moved to underground cells without sunlight, before finally being transferred to above-ground cells at the General Directorate of Intelligence.
Peter Reynolds, who had suffered a transient ischemic attack in 2023, desperately needed heart medication. During detention, he experienced two eye infections, intermittent tremors in his head and left arm, and had collapsed at least once. His son Jonathan reported in July that his father had experienced shaking “to the point he was on the floor and he couldn’t get up,” symptoms suggesting possible Parkinson’s disease or stroke.
Barbie Reynolds suffered from severe anaemia and malnutrition, remaining weak and frail throughout her imprisonment. Her daughter reported her mother’s hands and feet had turned blue, and she had lost significant weight, at times unable to stand or walk.
Prison Conditions ‘Inhumane’
The conditions of their detention were described as “inhumane” by UN experts. The couple slept on used mats on concrete floors in cramped cells. For several months, they were held separately – Peter in an undisclosed location within Pul-e-Charkhi prison whilst Barbie was moved to a separate women’s section.
Hall, who spent two months in detention alongside Barbie Reynolds, described the harsh reality of their imprisonment. They were held in a maximum security prison housing “murderers,” fenced with barbed wire where guards carried machine guns. The psychological toll of not knowing why they were detained or when they might be released was described by UN experts as “cruel treatment.”
Despite receiving some medication through Qatari government intervention, Peter’s condition continued to deteriorate. The couple had no bed or furniture, with Peter’s face reportedly red, peeling and bleeding, likely due to the return of skin cancer that urgently needed treatment.
Family’s Desperate Campaign
The Reynolds’ four adult children – Sarah Entwistle, Susie Romer, Jonathan Reynolds and another son – mounted a public campaign for their parents’ release after initial attempts at quiet diplomacy failed. They had initially chosen not to involve UK authorities, “hoping to hear directly from the Taliban about why they’d arrested our parents.”
After weeks of silence, the family went public with an open letter to the Taliban in February, stating: “They have always been transparent about their presence and endeavours, diligently adhering to the shifting laws. They have chosen Afghanistan as their home, rather than with family in England, and they wish to spend the rest of their lives in Afghanistan.”
Jonathan Reynolds, an American citizen living in the United States for 26 years, even appealed directly to President Trump in a video filmed outside the White House in April, standing with his daughter Annabelle. We are continuously told that our parents have done nothing wrong, they have committed no crime, and they will be released shortly. But still they remain in jail,” he said.
Qatari Mediation Crucial
Qatar’s role proved crucial in securing the couple’s release, as it had been with Hall’s freedom in March. The Gulf state has maintained diplomatic channels with the Taliban since hosting their political office from 2013 and has become a key mediator for Western nations lacking diplomatic presence in Afghanistan.
Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban’s ambassador in Qatar, had described Hall’s release as a “goodwill gesture,” stating the Taliban “want to have positive relations with the US and other countries.” Qatar had also facilitated medication delivery to Peter Reynolds during his detention and helped broker limited phone contact between the couple and their family.
The mediation efforts were complicated by the UK’s lack of diplomatic presence in Afghanistan. Britain closed its embassy in Kabul and withdrew all diplomats when the Taliban returned to power in 2021, severely limiting the Foreign Office’s ability to provide consular support.
Taliban’s ‘Certificate of Appreciation’
Ironically, the couple’s detention came despite their unique standing with the Taliban authorities. After the group’s return to power, the Reynolds had been invited to present their educational work to senior Taliban leaders. Barbie Reynolds was awarded a “Certificate of Appreciation” – believed to be the first such award ever given to a woman by the Taliban.
Their organisation Rebuild had operated in Afghanistan since 2009, training teachers in five schools in Kabul and running programmes teaching participatory learning and learning through play. One project in Bamiyan involved training mothers and children – work that had initially been approved by local Taliban authorities despite their restrictions on women’s education and employment.
The couple’s daughter revealed that 65 senior Taliban leaders had been impressed by their presentation on training teachers through active participatory learning, expressing interest in establishing their programmes in every province of Afghanistan.
International Pressure
The release follows months of international pressure and diplomatic efforts. UN human rights experts had formally raised the case with both the Taliban and the UK government, warning of the couple’s deteriorating health and calling their detention arbitrary and without legal basis.
The Taliban’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi had rejected concerns about rights violations in July, claiming the couple were “in constant contact with their families” and their “human rights are being respected.” However, the family disputed this, revealing communication had become increasingly rare and restricted.
The case highlighted the Taliban’s pattern of detaining Western nationals, often as leverage for political concessions or prisoner exchanges. In January, Americans Ryan Corbett and William McKenty were freed in exchange for Khan Mohammed, a Taliban member serving a life sentence in California for narco-terrorism.
Looking Forward
The Reynolds’ release through Qatari mediation marks the end of a harrowing ordeal that drew international attention to the plight of foreign nationals in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Their case underscored both the risks facing humanitarian workers who remained after the Taliban takeover and the critical role of third-party mediators like Qatar in the absence of formal diplomatic channels.
The Foreign Office confirmed it had been “supporting the family of two British nationals who are detained in Afghanistan,” with ministers meeting the family to discuss the case. However, the UK’s limited diplomatic options were starkly exposed throughout the crisis.
For the Reynolds family, the priority now will be ensuring Peter and Barbie receive urgent medical treatment for the severe health issues developed during their eight-month ordeal. Their dedication to Afghanistan – choosing to remain when thousands fled – nearly cost them their lives.
The couple’s release may also reignite debate about Western engagement with the Taliban regime, which remains unrecognised by the international community whilst continuing to severely restrict human rights, particularly for women and girls.
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