Elderly Brit couple held by Taliban feared for their lives

An elderly British couple who the Taliban detained for eight months have said they feared they would be executed in their first interview since their release.

- BRYONY GOOCH

Barbie Reynolds, 76, and her husband, Peter, 80, were arrested and detained without charge for nearly eight months in Afghanistan while travelling to their home in Bamyan province. They arrived back in the UK on Friday after they were freed.

The couple, who had lived in Afghanistan for almost two decades while running an education company, were held in a maximum security prison and endured long periods of separation.

“We had begun to think that we would never be released, or that we were even being held until we were executed,” Mr Reynolds told The Sunday Times.

The couple revealed that they were held in solitary confinement together for the last few months, so they were unaware that they were being released when they were taken to Kabul airport.

“The last few months we have been together in solitary confinement, cut off from all awareness of what was going on in the world,” he said.

Ms Reynolds said they had been told “nothing” about their release. “Even when we were taken to Kabul airport, we thought maybe we were just flying somewhere for medical treatment.”