Watch: This is the Canadian-American family rescued from the Taliban after five years
Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman, who had three children in captivity, were rescued by the Pakistani military on Wednesday.
Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman were heading out on a backpacking trip in 2012. They started their journey in Russia, moving on to Kazakhstan, Tajiikstan and Kyrgyzstan, before ending up in Afghanistan. The couple was captured and held hostage by the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network, a terrorist organisation, for five long years, during which their kidnappers released several videos of the hostages. They were finally rescued on Wednesday.
The kidnappers released a proof-of-life video nine months ago (above), and several other pleas on behalf of the hostages, detailing their “Kafkaesque nightmare”:
On Wednesday, the Canadian-American couple, now with three children – two boys and a girl, all born in captivity – was rescued by Pakistani security forces in a shoot-out with the militants. The Pakistani Army said in a statement that US intelligence agencies had been tracking the hostages, and shared information with Pakistan when the family was moved to their country.
They received the information on Wednesday and Pakistani intelligence agents, along with the Pakistani military, launched a rescue operation three hours later, while the family was being transported from one location to another.
US President Donald Trump commended the Pakistan government for their successful operation, and thanked them in an address.
Boyle had written a letter to his parents in captivity detailing how they played a game called “Beautiful Life” with their children – believed to be a reference to the film Life is Beautiful
Boyle’s parents were overjoyed at receiving the news of their family’s release, and issued a heartfelt statement to the press:
A video by Vox, below, comprehensively explains the complicated matter of terrorism, kidnapping, US-Afghanistan relations and more in the video below, with relation to the Boyle-Coleman family.
According to The Washington Post, there is an element of mystery about Boyle, who was earlier married to the sister of Omar Khadr, a Canadian alleged to have links with the al-Qaeda. On Boyle’s insistence, the family flew to Canada and not the US after their release.