Canadian/American Family Freed In Afghanistan

[Minnie]

Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman were held captive by the Taliban for the past 5 years; Coleman was 7 months or so pregnant at the time of capture, and apparently had 2 more children while in captivity. Odd couple though - backpacking in Afghanistan?


Article regarding the release (I picked the Guardian link because it was the only article not full of Trump's self-aggrandizing)

US officials have confirmed the release of an American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children, bringing an end to the couple’s nearly five years in captivity at the hands of a militant group aligned with the Taliban.

Troops in Pakistan, working with the United States government, secured the release of Caitlan Coleman and her husband Joshua Boyle, Donald Trump said in a statement on Thursday.

“Ms Coleman gave birth to the couple’s three children while they were in captivity,” the US president added. “Today they are free.”

The couple was kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012 and believed to be held by the Haqqani network, a network deemed a terrorist organisation by the US.

Boyle’s family said they had received a call from their son early Thursday morning to share the news of their release. “Josh said he was doing pretty well for someone who has spent the last five years in an underground prison,” Patrick Boyle told the Toronto Star. His son also told him that he and Coleman had had a third baby – a little girl – who was born two months ago.

In a statement, the Pakistani military said US intelligence officials had been tracking the family and had alerted Pakistan when the couple was moved into the tribal areas that border Afghanistan. “All hostages were recovered safe and sound, and are being repatriated to the country of their origin,” it added.


Pakistani officials did not say when the rescue had taken place or where the family is now. Officials also declined to say when they would return to North America.

Their capture came after a backpacking trip that began in Russia and took them through Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan before arriving in northern Afghanistan. Coleman, who is from Pennsylvania, was pregnant with their first child.

Link to an article with a bit of background about the couple

[OMG!WTF!]

It's really weird that they had a couple more kids while in captivity. Like so weird. I can't imagine the mood being right. Backpacking in Afghanistan is not too uncommon. There are ski trips, kayaking, marathons, and hiking trips going there all the time. I suspect it's totally dependent on who you are with and where you go. The Wakan Valley is probably safer than any of the other -istans they crossed through.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

It's really weird that they had a couple more kids while in captivity. Like so weird. I can't imagine the mood being right. Backpacking in Afghanistan is not too uncommon. There are ski trips, kayaking, marathons, and hiking trips going there all the time. I suspect it's totally dependent on who you are with and where you go. The Wakan Valley is probably safer than any of the other -istans they crossed through.

That part struck me as being very strange as well.

[stang]

https://globalnews.ca/news/1374898/c...-joshua-boyle/

This is a weird story...

[indes]

Who goes backpacking through Afghanistan when 7 months pregnant??

[Weitz]

So this guy was obsessed with terrorism, married Omar Kadr's sister, and went back packing with a 7 month pregnant wife in Afghanistan?

[CaptainCrunch]

I have my doubts that he went there "backpacking" especially with a wife that was about 7 months pregnant at the time, and then they had two kids in custody.

Nobody goes to one of the most dangerous countries in the world to back pack, that was a destination for them.

And reading that story, my guess was that he went there to join.

[skudr248]

That's enough internet for me today

[Minnie]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I have my doubts that he went there "backpacking" especially with a wife that was about 7 months pregnant at the time, and then they had two kids in custody.

Nobody goes to one of the most dangerous countries in the world to back pack, that was a destination for them.

And reading that story, my guess was that he went there to join.

His father describes him (both of them) as quite naive. I suppose to a degree, I could see that, but as you said, it seemed far more calculated than "hey, I know, let's go backpacking in Taliban territory while you're heavily pregnant, dear."

Trying to understand this but nothing about it computes to me. But then again, Afghanistan wouldn't even be on my list of places to go backpacking even at peak health, never mind pregnant, not in its current unstable state.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

It's really weird that they had a couple more kids while in captivity. Like so weird.

Sometimes you just gotta tear one off.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Minnie

His father describes him (both of them) as quite naive. I suppose to a degree, I could see that, but as you said, it seemed far more calculated than "hey, I know, let's go backpacking in Taliban territory while you're heavily pregnant, dear."

Trying to understand this but nothing about it computes to me. But then again, Afghanistan wouldn't even be on my list of places to go backpacking even at peak health, never mind pregnant, not in its current unstable state.

The guy wants to take his 7 months pregnant wife there because he wants to join and raise his family with the Taliban, that's my conclusion.

You don't take your 7 months pregnant wife out hiking in the boonies of a country with remedial medical care, and take the chance that you'll be far away from help if something goes wrong with the pregnancy.

Maybe the Taliban took him and when he said "I want to be one of you" they looked at him and said "You'll be better as a hostage and we can wring some money out of your family".

Or maybe he said "I want to join you see, and we'll pretend I'm a hostage and maybe we can con some people out of some money see".

But frankly, they're not going to hold him alive for that long as a hostage if there's not an economic payoff. If his parents had refused to pay money to get him back, they wouldn't have kept him for what 5 years? And fed his growing family, they would have put a bullet in their heads and moved on.

Nothing about this story is making sense.

Maybe the American intelligence just assumed that was a hostage and when the Pakistani army rescued him he was like "OMG the horror, I'm so glad you rescued us, USA USA."

[Swift]

This article from when they were first abducted - https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ng-afghanistan says "The couple had embarked on a journey last July that took them to Russia, the central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and then finally to Afghanistan."

She got pregnant on the trip it seems and may have been pregnant before they got to Afghanistan. It's definitely all a bit weird, but jumping to conclusions that the guy specifically travelled to Afghanistan with his pregnant wife to join the Taliban seems a bit of a stretch.

[northcrunk]

Originally Posted by Cameron Swift

This article from when they were first abducted - https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ng-afghanistan says "The couple had embarked on a journey last July that took them to Russia, the central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and then finally to Afghanistan."

She got pregnant on the trip it seems and may have been pregnant before they got to Afghanistan. It's definitely all a bit weird, but jumping to conclusions that the guy specifically travelled to Afghanistan with his pregnant wife to join the Taliban seems a bit of a stretch.

Is it though when this guy married one of Omar Khadr's sisters?

[Swift]

Oh yeah, like I said, it's all very, very strange and I have no idea about this guy or his motives. The comments in this thread suggested that he travelled straight to Afghanistan with a 7 month pregnant wife, so was just pointing out that wasn't the case.

[Minnie]

It still stands though. Who the bloody blue hell continues backpacking in remote regions not particularly notable for their political stability, with their pregnant wife who has other medical issues, ones that pregnancy can put further pressure on? Still hinky as heck.

[Huntingwhale]

I want to see photos of the hike.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Meh, when both the FBI and RCMP come out and say that Boyle's past marriage had no bearing on the kidnapping (other than his interest in Afghanistan), I'll have to take their word for it.

[CaptainCrunch]

sounds like from the interview this morning with the wife's parents that they're none too impressed with Boyle

[CliffFletcher]

Character Name: Joshua Boyle
Class: Activist
Race: Dweeb
Enemy: USA
Intelligence: 16
Wisdom: 4
Skills: Lore (Star Wars), Wikipedia (+4)

What an absolute twat.

[Minnie]

It's horrifying that Caitlan was raped and beyond sickening that one of their children was killed, but crap on a cracker, watched an interview with him today and Joshua Boyle is a goddamn numpty.

I don't know how to embed this video so you'll just have to click on the link to watch - http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1073335875507/