British couple “dying” in Afghan prison, warns the woman held by the Taliban

An American woman owned by the Taliban alongside a British couple told the BBC that she was “literally dying” in prison and that “time is exhausted”.

Faye Hall was arrested with Peter, 80, and Barbie Reynolds, 76 on February 1 on his return to the province of Bamiyan, Afghanistan, where the couple lived.

While Ms. Hall was released after two months, Peter and Barbie stay in prison and still do not know why they are detained.

Foreign Office (FCDO) said he supported the family of a couple owned in Afghanistan.

Addressing BBC Breakfast during her first interview since her release, Ms. Hall melted in tears when asked what she would like to say to the couple.

“I love them, I know they will be out very soon, never give up.”

Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds married Kabul in 1970 and had lived in Afghanistan for 18 years before their arrest – whose reason was not confirmed despite four legal appearances.

The pair had Afghan citizenship and led a charity program in the country, approved by the Taliban when they took power in 2021.

Hall said that the group, which also included an interpreter, had stolen from Kabul to the province of Bamiyan on a private charter plane when they were arrested at a checkpoint.

They then spent days on the road to be trained between the police stations and the prisons.

She described the conditions in which they had been held, including the cramped cells and a maximum security prison holding “murderers”, closed with barbed wire and where the guards wore machine guns.

She warned that their health had quickly deteriorated in prison, Barbie losing a significant weight and unable to stand up or walk once.

She also warned that Peter had become sickening despite medication of the Qatari government, which he needed daily after undergoing heart surgery and treatment against cancer.

“We just have these elderly people, they literally die and time is running out.”

She stressed that the conditions made a mental number and physical, because “every day you do not know where you will be tomorrow”.

“It is not a healthy environment and we were the only foreigners there,” she added.

The couple’s son had previously declared to the BBC that he feared to die in prison, warning that Peter had suffered serious convulsions and that Barbie was “numb” for anemia and malnutrition.

The UN warned in July that the couple could perish “in such degrading conditions” if they did not receive medical care at a time, calling for their “inhuman” detention.

Ms. Hall called on American and British governments to “work together” and do more to secure the release of the pair.

The FCDO said: “We support the family of two British nationals owned in Afghanistan. The minister met the family to discuss the case.

The United Kingdom closed its embassy in Kabul and withdrew its diplomats from the country after the Taliban’s return to power in 2021.

The FCDO claims that support for British nationals in Afghanistan is therefore “severely limited” and advises all trips to the country.

A spokesperson for the United States Department of State said the Taliban had “an unjustly history of detention of foreign nationals”.

“They should constantly end their practice of diplomacy hostage and release all people unjustly detained immediately.”

The Taliban Foreign Minister of Affairs said in July that Barbie and Peter were “in constant contact with their families” and that efforts were underway to guarantee their release but that “these steps have not yet been completed”.

“Their human rights are respected. They have full access to treatment, contact and accommodation.”