We thought we'd never be released, say couple

A Bath woman who was held for months with her husband without charge in Afghanistan began teaching her fellow prisoners while she was detained, she has revealed.

- Ellie Crabbe

And her husband has told of how they thought they would “never be released”.

Barbie Reynolds, 76, and her husband Peter, 80, were freed by the Taliban on Friday after being held for nearly eight months following their arrest as they travelled to their home in Bamyan province, central Afghanistan.

The pair, who originally met at the University of Bath, arrived at Heathrow Airport on Saturday afternoon, and in the Sunday Times Mr Reynolds told of his fear after their arrest in February they were “being held until we were executed”.

They were held without charge in a maximum security prison, including long periods of separation.

Mr and Mrs Reynolds had lived in Afghanistan for nearly two decades and ran a training and education organisation.

“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.

“We felt huge powerlessness. We were told we were guests. But when I was taken to court, I had my ankles and hands cuffed together with murderers and rapists”