An elderly British couple who were detained in Afghanistan earlier this year have been freed.
Barbie Reynolds, 76, and her husband Peter, 80, were detained by the Taliban’s interior ministry on 1 February.
In March, they were then moved to a maximum security prison in Kabul.
They were safely released from detention on Friday and flown to Doha following mediation led by Qatar.
Sky Correspondent Cordelia Lynch was at Kabul Airport as the freed couple arrived and departed.
Mr Reynolds told her: “We are just very thankful.”
His wife added: “We’ve been treated very well. We’re looking forward to seeing our children.
“We are looking forward to returning to Afghanistan if we can. We are Afghan citizens.”
Asked by Lynch if they had a message for family and friends, Mrs Reynolds replied: “My message is God is good, as the they say in Afghanistan.”
Richard Lindsay, the UK’s special envoy to Afghanistan, told Lynch it remained “unclear” on what grounds the couple had been detained.
He said they were “very relieved to be going home and delighted to be reunited with their family”.
Asked about the state of their health, he said: “I am not a doctor, but they are very happy.”
He added the British government’s travel advice was clear. “We advise British nationals not to travel to Afghanistan. That remains the case and will remain the case.”
Pic: Sarah Entwistle
Pic: Reynolds family
Qatar, the energy-rich nation on the Arabian Peninsula that mediated talks between the US and the Taliban before the American withdrawal, helped in releasing the Reynolds.
Mirdef Ali Al-Qashouti, acting charge d’affaires at the Qatar Embassy in Kabul, told Lynch that Qatari officials ensured the couple were kept in “comfortable” conditions during talks.
“Throughout their eight months in detention – during which they were largely held separately – the Qatari embassy in Kabul provided them with critical support, including access to their doctor, delivery of medication, and regular communication with their family,” a Qatari official told Reuters news agency.
The couple have lived in Afghanistan for 18 years and run an organisation called Rebuild, which provides education and training programmes.
They have been together since the 1960s and married in the Afghan capital in 1970.
Read more: Afghans relocated to UK ‘exaggerating’ Taliban threat
Pic: Reynolds family
Their son Jonathan told Sky News in April his parents had “never heard one accusation or one charge”.
He said the British government had offered to evacuate them when the Taliban took over, to which they replied: “Why would we leave these people in their darkest hour?”
Mr and Mrs Reynolds are now on their way home, where they will be reunited with their family.
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