British couple “dying” in an Afghan prison, warns a woman holding the Taliban

An American woman detained by the Taliban, together with the British couple, told the BBC that they were “literally dying” in prison and that “time is over.”

Fay Hall was arrested with Peter 80, and Barbie Reynolds, on February 7, when returning to Bamian, Afghanistan, where the couple lived.

As long as r -wo Hall was released in two monthsPeter and Barbie remain in prison and still don’t know why they are being held.

Foreign Service (FCDO) said she supports the couple in Afghanistan.

Speaking before the BBC breakfast in her first interview since the release, Ms. Hall crashed with tears, when asked what she would like to tell the couples.

“I love them, I know they’ll be very soon, never give up.”

Mrs. Reynolds married in Kabul in 1970 and lived in Afghanistan 18 years before the arrest – the cause was not confirmed, despite four speeches in court.

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

Ms. Hall said the group, which also included a translator, flew from Kabul to the province of Bamian in a private statutory plane when they were stopped at the checkpoint.

Then they spent days on the road between police and prisons.

She described the conditions in which they were carried out, including close cells and jailers about the maximum safety, which was carried out by the “killers”, enclosed with barbed wire and where the guards were transporting machine guns.

She warned that their health quickly deteriorated in prison, and Barbie lost and unable to stand or walk once.

She also warned that Peter became sick, despite receiving medication from the Katar government, which he needs daily after suffering from the heart and cancer treatment.

“We just have these elderly people, they literally die, and time will end.”

She emphasized that the conditions accept mental as well as physical because “every day you don’t know where you will be tomorrow.”

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

Son of the couple earlier spoke bbc he Fearing they will die in prisonWarning that Peter suffered serious convulsions, and Barbie “numb” of anemia and malnutrition.

In July, the UN warned that the couple could die “in such humiliating conditions” if they did not receive medical care immediately, calling their detention “inhuman”.

Ms. Hall called on the governments of the US and UK to “work together” and do more to ensure the liberation of the couple.

FCDO said: “We support the family of two British citizens who were detained in Afghanistan. The minister met the family to discuss the case.

The UK closed the embassy in Kabul and withdrew its diplomats from the country after the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

FCDO notes that supporting British citizens in Afghanistan is thus “strongly limited” and advises against all trips to the country.

The US State Department’s press stated that the Taliban had “the story of unfair detention of foreign nationals”.

“They must constantly stop their practice of hostage diplomacy and immediately release all those who are unfairly detained.”

The Taliban Foreign Minister said in July that Barbie and Peter “constantly contacted their families” and that efforts are being made, but “these steps have not yet been completed.”

“Their human rights are fulfilled. They are given full access to treatment, contacts and placement.”