AN elderly British couple released by the Taliban authorities after almost eight months in detention in Afghanistan arrived back in the UK on Saturday.
Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbie, 76, arrived on a flight from the Qatari capital, Doha, where they had stayed for medical checks following their release on Friday.
A Qatari official welcomes Peter Reynolds and his wife, Barbie, after landing at the airport in Doha on September 19, 2025.(Photo by Karim JAAFAR / AFP)
Qatar played a key role in helping to free the couple after mounting fears about their health.
Barbie Reynolds smiled broadly as the couple walked out of the arrivals area at London’s Heathrow Airport but did not stop to talk to reporters.
They were accompanied by their daughter, Sarah Entwhistle, and British special representative to Afghanistan Richard Lindsay.
The family has spoken of their “immense joy” on hearing that the Reynolds were released, and there were emotional scenes when they arrived in Doha on a flight from Kabul to be met by Entwhistle.
“This experience has reminded us of the power of diplomacy, empathy, and international cooperation,” their four children said in a joint statement on Friday.
“While the road to recovery will be long as our parents regain their health and spend time with their family, today is a day of tremendous joy and relief.”
The couple were arrested in February as they were returning to their home in Bamiyan province, central Afghanistan.
They were first held in a maximum security facility, “then in underground cells, without daylight, before being transferred” to the intelligence services in Kabul, UN experts have said.
The couple married in Kabul in 1970 and have spent almost two decades living in Afghanistan, running educational programmes for women and children. They also became Afghan citizens.
When the Taliban returned to power in 2021, they remained in Afghanistan against the advice of the British embassy.
The Taliban authorities have not explained why the pair were detained.