An English couple in their 70’s arrested in Afghanistan

Unlike the pair in Iran I have every sympathy for this couple. They seem to have spent most of their lives in Afghanistan, even got married there in 1970.

They were running government approved schemes. The news report on the BBC did nto suggest that they were trying to leave the country, but did mention that the government sspokesman did say they were on a plane without permission.

Is there any reason why the Afghan government should so to speak 'do an Iran' and arrest people without cause for what they can get from them. They have not done this before.

Even the Taliban must know there’s little to no mileage in arresting this 70 year old couple (Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife Barbie, 75) so let's hope they can sort things out without too much trouble.

This is a very worrying development.
Is it related to their teaching girls?

Think so. The Taliban reneged on their promise to allow girls over 12 to have an education. This couple were educating mums and their children (not sure of the children’s ages though).

Women in Afghanistan are not allowed out of their homes unless they have a male chaperone and they are not allowed to speak outside the home. Girls are educated up to 12 years of age but attendance in primary schools is rapidly declining due to pressure from the Taliban.

Makes The Handmaid's Tale look a beacon of liberalism...

Awful medieval ways indeed - suits their patriarchal society.
I always think of the poverty and corruption as described in ‘The Kite Runner’ and ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’.
No wonder we in the West value our tolerance and freedoms.

I don't approve of the Taliban's policies but I doubt they take much notice of people in the UK moaning about them and we have problems of our own after 14 years of Tory mess.

M0nica

Unlike the pair in Iran I have every sympathy for this couple. They seem to have spent most of their lives in Afghanistan, even got married there in 1970.

They were running government approved schemes. The news report on the BBC did nto suggest that they were trying to leave the country, but did mention that the government sspokesman did say they were on a plane without permission.

Is there any reason why the Afghan government should so to speak 'do an Iran' and arrest people without cause for what they can get from them. They have not done this before.

I agree and have sympathy with this couple, they were there with Government permission.

It's a very worrying development.
The news report on the BBC did suggest that they were trying to leave the country, but did mention that the government spokesman did say they were on a plane without permission.
Perhaps they knew that the even more draconian measures against women and girls would put them in jeopardy and decided to leave.

A friend taught there for a while but left a few years ago, even then it was a dangerous place to be a teacher.

I do hope they will be freed as a matter of urgency.

Here's an article in the Guardian which outlines their situation and the work they were doing. it wasn't specifically work with girls, it was "teaching mothers with children".

CNN says they ran a programme

"The couple runs Rebuild, an organization that provides education and training programs for businesses, government agencies, educational organizations and nongovernmental groups. The Sunday Times, which first reported the story, said one project was for mothers and children"

Puzzling: "The children said their parents had asked the British government not to get involved with their case. Britain’s Foreign Office declined to comment" (unless the couple feel ti would inflame matters?

CNN article edition.cnn.com/2025/02/23/asia/reynolds-uk-couple-detained-afghanistan-intl-hnk/index.html

Just hope they can be freed soon.

Sorry, link guardian article
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/feb/23/british-couple-in-their-70s-arrested-by-the-taliban-in-afghanistan