October 16, 2017
American citizen Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, were rescued on October 12, 2017 in an intelligence based operation by the Pakistani forces on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Coleman and Boyle were kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012 by the Taliban-allied Haqqani network. Boyle’s family today also thanked Pakistan for rescuing their son and his family. Their video message can be seen below:
Parents of Canadian citizen Joshua Boyle thanking Pakistan Army for rescue of their son & his family. pic.twitter.com/0rXiGGkvcj
— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) October 12, 2017
US President Donald Trump also appreciated and acknowledged Pakistan’s role in the release and rescue operation:
.@POTUS comments on the release of Caitlan Coleman, Joshua Boyle, and their family from terrorist captivity in #Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/xEW556DbRJ
— Department of State (@StateDept) October 12, 2017
Joshua Boyle, Canadian citizen rescued along with his family from Taliban captivity, revealed that his captors not only raped his wife but also kill their new-born girl. Boyle, soon after his rescue, returned to his parents’ home in Canada on Saturday, along with his American wife, Caitlan Coleman, and three young children.
“The stupidity and evil of the Haqqani Network’s kidnapping of a pilgrim and his heavily pregnant wife engaged in helping ordinary villagers in Taliban-controlled regions of Afghanistan was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorising the murder of my infant daughter,” he said in a statement.
The couple said they were in Afghanistan to help villagers “who live deep inside Taliban-controlled Afghanistan where no NGO, no aid worker and no government has ever successfully been able to bring the necessary help”.
Earlier, on the plane from London, Mr Boyle provided a separate, handwritten statement expressing disagreement with the US foreign policy. He nodded toward one of the State Department officials and said, “Their interests are not my interests. It will be of incredible importance to my family that we are able to build a secure sanctuary for our three surviving children to call a home,” Mr Boyle said.
