Canadian hostage, wife & children freed from Afghanistan, Oct 2017 #1

kmclaren said:

New video from the couple, this time showing their 2 sons

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https://www.thestar.com/news/world/...dren-seen-in-just-released-taliban-video.html

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mikkismom said:

According to NYT, the have been released. I don't know how to link.

Sent from my VS501 using Tapatalk

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Lilibet said:

Great news!

Here are some links...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/12/...d-family-held-for-5-years-in-afghanistan.html

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...amily-freed-terrorists-afghanistan/756967001/

http://www.wmur.com/article/hostages-freed-taliban-afghanistan/12835793

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/1...an-family-freed-from-afghanistan-captors.html

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Joshua Boyle says his child was murdered, wife raped while in captivity

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TORONTO -- Former hostage Joshua Boyle said upon arriving back in Canada that the Haqqani network in Afghanistan had killed his infant daughter and raped his wife during the years they were held in captivity.

Boyle gave the statement shortly after landing in Canada late Friday with his American wife, Caitlan Coleman, and three young children.

The couple was rescued Wednesday, five years after they had been abducted by the Taliban-linked extremist network while in Afghanistan as part of a backpacking trip. Coleman was pregnant at the time and had four children in captivity. The birth of the fourth child had not been publicly known before Boyle appeared before journalists at the Toronto airport

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Afghanistan was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorizing the murder of my infant daughter," he said. Boyle said his wife was raped by a guard who was assisted by his superiors. He asked for the Afghan government to bring them to justice

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Freed hostage Joshua Boyle says children adapting to '1st true home'


Canadian kidnapped with his wife, Caitlan Coleman, says his kids have no experience of life out of captivity

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Freed Canadian hostage Joshua Boyle says his three children are quickly adapting as the family spends their first full day in Canada, after five excruciating years being held captive in Afghanistan.

"We have reached the first true home that the children have ever known after they spent most of Friday asking if each subsequent airport was our new house hopefully," Boyle told CBC, after a day of travel that included flights to London and then Toronto.

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"We know nothing is instant — but after five years, it's so difficult to accept that everything isn't magically perfect just because you're no longer being brutalized," he said.

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In response to emailed questions, Boyle told CBC's Susan Ormiston how his three children were reacting to freedom.

He said the eldest child, Najaeshi Jonah, 4, is "exuberant; honestly freedom seems to have cured half his ills instantly, he's running around examining all the gifts compiled over the years.

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"Najaeshi Jonah is examining Post-it notes and curtains and paints and board games, remote controls, everything in the house is a wonderland to him," wrote Boyle. "That said, he's terrified to leave the house, even just to go on the porch...it's as though he thinks if he ever exits this magical wonderland it will all end...."

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'Everything reminds him of the horrors of prison'

Boyle said Saturday that his middle child, Dhakwoen Noah, 2, is more fearful, "nearly as distressed as he was in prison, it seems everything reminds him of the horrors of prison; cameras are equated to hostage videos, pens are equated to syringes used to drug his parents with ketamine by the guards, slamming doors is associated with cell searches or worse, it seems his healing process has barely begun — so we pray that God will hasten it."

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Ma'idah Grace, who is about five months old — had health problems. An earlier report said she needed to be force-fed by their rescuers. "Ma'idah Grace seems scared most of the time, but also to have discovered there are more decent people in the world than she knew;

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Inthedetails said:

Is there another thread about this hostage-release story on WS that I'm missing? Or is this it?

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[h=1]Taliban denies rescued Canadian hostage's accusations of rape and murder[/h]

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A spokesman for the Taliban claims a freed Canadian hostage's allegations that his wife was raped and his daughter killed by their abductors are "western propaganda"

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However, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has released a statement saying Coleman had a "natural miscarriage" after an illness.

Mujahid says Boyle and his wife Caitlan Coleman are now "in the hands of the enemy", and the statement Boyle gave was "force fed" to him.
Mujahid also says "from the time the couple were detained until their release" Boyle and Coleman were never separated because the kidnappers "did not want to incite any suspicion."

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Lilibet said:

I’m very glad they’re free, but...Have we heard from Caitlin yet? When she does speak will she speak her own thoughts or Boyle’s? Four babies in five years would be hard on a woman even with good medical care. I don’t understand taking your wife into any part of Afghanistan pregnant, let alone bringing more babies into a terrible life in captivity and possible torture and death. I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind around Mr Boyle’s agenda. I just don’t see an idealistic desire to help poor villagers or an innocent interest in beautiful Afghan scenery. Call me judgemental, but what I see is selfishness and possibly a form of spousal control and abuse. I’ll be very happy to be wrong. JMO

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Lilibet said:

I’m very glad they’re free, but...Have we heard from Caitlin yet? When she does speak will she speak her own thoughts or Boyle’s? Four babies in five years would be hard on a woman even with good medical care. I don’t understand taking your wife into any part of Afghanistan pregnant, let alone bringing more babies into a terrible life in captivity and possible torture and death. I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind around Mr Boyle’s agenda. I just don’t see an idealistic desire to help poor villagers or an innocent interest in beautiful Afghan scenery. Call me judgemental, but what I see is selfishness and possibly a form of spousal control and abuse. I’ll be very happy to be wrong. JMO

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