Peter and Barbie Reynolds, both Afghan citizens, were held by the Taliban for more than seven months on undisclosed charges.
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A British couple held in Afghanistan for more than seven months arrived in the Qatari capital Doha on Friday, after high-level talks between the Taliban, Qatar and the UK led to their release.
Peter and Barbie Reynolds, aged aged 80 and 76 respectively, were held in Afghanistan for more than seven months on undisclosed charges.
The pair had lived in the country for 18 years and ran an education and training organisation in the country's central province of Bamiyan. They chose to remain in Afghanistan even after the Taliban seized power in a lightening offensive in 2021.
"God is good, as they say in Afghanistan," Barbie Reynolds said after she arrived at Kabul International Airport to fly out of the country.
They were emotionally reunited with family on airport tarmac in Doha. Peter and Barbie appeared upbeat and in good health, smiling as they descended the steps of the aircraft.
The couple's daughter, Sarah Entwistle, ran to her parents. She hugged them both, then held her father's hand to accompany him into the terminal building.
Entwistle said the family was overwhelmed with gratitude and relief to have her parents back after their "incomprehensible detention by the Taliban."
The Reynolds' family in the United Kingdom repeatedly called for the couple's release, claiming they were being mistreated in prison and held on undisclosed charges.
A spokesperson at the Taliban government's Foreign Ministry, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, said the couple "violated Afghan law" and were released from prison on Friday after a court hearing, according to a statement he posted on X.
He did not say what law the couple were alleged to have broken.
Balkhi thanked Qatar for its "sincere efforts and mediation" regarding the Reynolds who, he said, were handed over to Richard Lindsay, the UK's special envoy for Afghanistan.