A British couple detained by the Taliban in Afghanistan for nearly eight months have arrived back in the UK after being released.
Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbie, 76, who lived in Afghanistan for nearly two decades, landed at Heathrow Airport on a flight from Doha.
They were reunited with their daughter in Qatar on Friday. Their son Jonathan Reynolds told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he was ecstatic and massively grateful to those who were involved in securing their release.
The Taliban, who detained the couple on 1 February, stated that the pair had broken Afghan laws and were released after judicial proceedings, although no specific reason for their detention was disclosed.
Peter and Barbie Reynolds married in Kabul in 1970 and spent the past 18 years running a charitable training programme that had been approved by local Taliban officials when the armed group reclaimed power in 2021.
There were emotional scenes on Friday as the couple's daughter, Sarah Entwistle, met her parents as they stepped off the plane in Doha.
We are looking forward to returning to Afghanistan if we can. We are Afghan citizens, Barbie told Agence France-Presse at Kabul airport after Qatar-brokered negotiations for their release.
Their son Jonathan echoed those hopes, saying their desire would be to carry on living there and to do the work they were doing.
Since 2009 the couple have been running training projects in Kabul and Bamiyan. Their work involved educating women and children, despite the Taliban's restrictions on female employment and education.
The couple's release follows months of public lobbying by their family, who have described the harrowing conditions of their detention. Jonathan mentioned that his father had experienced serious convulsions and his mother was suffering from malnutrition.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer praised the vital role played by Qatar in securing their release. The UK does not recognize the Taliban government and has advised against all travel to Afghanistan.
Peter and Barbie received medical check-ups in Doha before their departure and have expressed concerns about their future work in a country where they have long been invested but now face uncertainty.