US-Canadian couple and their three children are rescued from the Taliban after five years of ‘rape, torture and starvation’
The family were freed from the terrorists after a dramatic rescue by troops in Pakistan
A US-CANADIAN couple and their three young children have been rescued from the Taliban after enduring five years of "rape, torture and starvation".
The family were freed from the terrorists after a dramatic rescue by troops in Pakistan.
US officials confirmed that Caitlan Coleman, 31, her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle, 34, and their three children were all handed over near the Afghan border.
An operation was launched after a tip-off from US spies that the family had been moved across the frontier on Wednesday.
The couple were kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012 and were in the clutches of the Haqqani network, which has links to the Taliban.
Ms Coleman - who was pregnant when she was snatched and had three children while in captivity - has suggested she was raped and had miscarriages while being held.
The rescue operation “from terrorist custody” took place in the Kirram tribal badlands and involved special forces from the Pakistan army and crack US troops.
Mr Boyle’s father Patrick - who spoke to his released son - said last night: “Josh said he was doing pretty well for someone who has spent the last five years in an underground prison.”
Since the release it has been reported that Mr Boyle has refused to board a military aircraft to the US.
Two U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the U.S. military had been ready to fly the family out of the country but said the Canadian refused to board.
Mr Boyle was once been married to the sister of a former Guantamo inmate and CNN reported he might fear prosecution in the US.
He had grown close to ex-wife Zaynab Khadr, the older sister of Omar Khadr, after volunteering to be the family's spokesman during the row over her brother's detention.
A White House official hailed the rescue as a "positive moment for our country's relationship with Pakistan".
Donald Trump said: "The Pakistani government's co-operation is a sign that it is honouring America's wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region.
"We hope to see this type of co-operation and teamwork in helping secure the release of remaining hostages and in our future joint counter-terrorism operations."
Trump's chief of staff, John Kelly, drove home the dire conditions the family had been subjected to during their long captivity.
"They've been essentially living in a hole for five years," Kelly said. "That's the kind of people we're dealing with over there."
The rescue is understood to have involved a tense handover in which terror troops were not engaged in battle.
Video footage of the family last appeared in December 2016 when they appealed to their governments to listen to demands to swap them for Haqqani prisoners.
As of Thursday evening, there was no indication the family had left Pakistan. Boyle's parents said he told them by phone he would see them in a couple of days.
"So we're waiting for that," his mother, Linda Boyle, said in a video posted on the Toronto Star newspaper's website.
Boyle's father, in the video message, offered his thanks to Pakistani forces "who risked their lives and got all five of ours out safely and rescued".
The Coleman family taped a message to its front door reading: "The Coleman family appreciates all the interest and concern being expressed at thejoyful noise that Caity, Josh and our grandchildren have been released after five long years of captivity."
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said: "Joshua, Caitlan, their children and the Boyle and Coleman families have endured a horrible ordeal over the past five years. We stand ready to support them as they begin their healing journey."
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