The Taliban released a British couple on Friday who had been held in Afghanistan for more than seven months on undisclosed charges, officials said. It appeared to be part of efforts by the Taliban to be recognized internationally as the legitimate government of Afghanistan more than four years after they retook power over the country as the U.S. military pulled out.
The case of Peter and Barbie Reynolds, aged 80 and 75, underlined the concerns of the West over the actions of the Taliban since they overthrew the country’s U.S.-backed government in a 2021 lightning offensive. The Reynolds had lived in Afghanistan for 18 years and run an education and training organization in the country’s central province of Bamiyan, choosing to remain in the country after the Taliban seized power.
An official with knowledge of their release told CBS News on Friday that they were freed following mediation led by Qatar, an energy-rich nation on the Arabian Peninsula that mediated talks between the U.S. and the Taliban before the American withdrawal.
Britons Peter and Barbie Reynolds were detained by the Taliban in Afghanistan on Feb. 1, 2025. The couple were released on Sept. 19, 2025. / Credit: Courtesy of the Reynolds family
The official said their freedom was secured after many months of negotiations by Qatari officials with the Taliban, working in close coordination with the British government and the couple’s family.
In a statement released by the U.K. government, Hamish Falconer, Minister for the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan, said he was “relieved to hear that Peter and Barbie Reynolds are no longer detained in Afghanistan, and their ordeal has come to an end. I look forward to them being reunited with their family soon.”
He said the British government had “worked intensively since their detention and has supported the family throughout,” and he thanked Qatar for its “essential role in this case.”
The Reynolds were largely held separately during their detention, but the Qatari embassy in Kabul “provided them with critical support, including access to their doctor, delivery of medication, and regular communication with their family,” the official familiar with the case told CBS News, adding that the couple were on their way home Friday.
The Reynolds’ family members in the United Kingdom had repeatedly called for the couple’s release, saying they were being mistreated and held on undisclosed charges. While the Taliban rejected the abuse allegations, they have never explained what prompted their detention.
There was no immediate comment from the Taliban government or the U.K. Foreign Office about the couple’s release.
In July, United Nations human rights experts warned the couple’s physical and mental health was deteriorating rapidly and that they were at risk of irreparable harm or even death.
Earlier this month, the Taliban said it had reached an agreement with U.S. envoys on a prisoner exchange as part of an effort to normalize relations. The meeting came after the Taliban in March released U.S. citizen George Glezmann, who was abducted while traveling through Afghanistan as a tourist.
In April, the Reynolds’ American children appealed to President Trump in a video, asking for his help in securing their release.
The Reynolds were detained in February along with their American friend Faye Hall and their Afghan interpreter as they traveled to the British couple’s home in Bamiyan province, the family told CBS News.
Hall, an U.S. citizen, was released in the spring into the custody of Qatari officials, who helped broker her release and return to the U.S., as the Reynolds family marked eight weeks of their parents being detained.
Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban’s ambassador in Qatar, told CBS News at the time that Hall was released as a “goodwill gesture” and that the administration “want to have positive relations with (the) U.S. and other countries.”
Afghanistan remains a focus of President Trump. On Thursday, while visiting the U.K., Mr. Trump said the U.S. was working to regain control over the Bagram Air Base in the country.
The Taliban hold a military parade to celebrate the third anniversary of their takeover of Afghanistan, at the Bagram Air Base, in Bagram, Parwan province, Aug. 14, 2024. / Credit: AHMAD SAHEL ARMAN/AFP/Getty
“We’re trying to get it back. Because they need things from us,” Mr. Trump said during his state visit to Britain. “We want that base back.”
The president said one reason the U.S. wanted control of the base is its location, calling it an “hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons,” apparently referring to the time it would take to fly to the unspecified location from the airfield.
Zakir Jalaly, an official at the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry, dismissed the idea of the U.S. regaining its control over the military installation.
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