The Taliban have released a US woman from captivity after guards had to violently separate her from a British couple who are still being held in Afghanistan.
Faye Hall was today released by the Taliban after the Trump administration removed bounties worth millions of pounds from three senior members.
‘American citizen Faye Hall, just released by the Taliban, is now in the care of our friends, the Qataris in Kabul, and will soon be on her way home,’ former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad posted on X.
Ms Hall, who had been kept in Afghanistan alongside British pensioner couple Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife Barbie, 75, was forcibly dragged away from the pair on Thursday after refusing to leave them, according to their daughter.
Sarah Entwistle said the guards ‘resorted to violence’ after ‘both women resisted’ being separated.
‘They were dragged kicking and screaming, with Faye ultimately being ripped from Barbie’s arms and thrown into an unmarked car.’
The American was taken to court and told of a release order. When she asked about her companions, she was told: ‘We are only dealing with you,’ according to The Telegraph.
The trio were arrested with their Afghan interpreter Juya on February 1.
A senior Taliban official said they were held by the Haqqani network to gain concessions from the US and UK governments.
He said Ms Hall was released after the US dropped its bounties on senior Haqqani officials including a $10m reward for Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban government’s interior minister.
The Haqqani network was responsible for some of the most deadly attacks during the war in Afghanistan.
Ms Entwistle says Ms Hall’s release contradicted ‘eight weeks of Taliban assurances’ that the detainees would be released together.
She previously revealed she was worried her parents could die in jail as their health deteriorates.
Peter and Barbie Reynolds, who hold Afghan citizenship, were arrested after they returned to their home in Bamiyan province.
While they weren’t officially charged with any crimes, it is believed that the Taliban took an interest in the couple as they ran a course teaching women mothering skills as the terror group places severe restrictions on the education of women.
Since their arrest nearly two months ago, Mr Reynolds’s’ health has been in decline and his wife has been ‘collapsing due to malnutrition.’
Since Peter was separated from his wife and moved to a maximum security prison by the Taliban, he has suffered from a chest infection, a double eye infection and severe digestive issues, Entwistle told The Times, adding that without immediate access to medicine, his life is at risk.
The Reynolds refused to flee Afghanistan when the Taliban unexpectedly seized power in August 2021, arguing ‘they could not leave when Afghans were in their hour of need’, Mrs Entwistle said.
Mr and Mrs Reynolds married in Kabul in 1970 after meeting as students at Bath University.
They have lived in the country for 18 years and run five schools in Kabul, which includes a mothers and children training programme reportedly approved by the Taliban.