KABUL: An American-Canadian couple held hostage by the Taliban have appeared in a video for the first time with their two children born in captivity, pleading with President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump to secure their release.
Canadian Joshua Boyle and his American wife Caitlan Coleman had two sons after being kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012 during a backpacking trip.
In the four-minute video shared by the SITE Intelligence group, the couple were shown with their two young sons sitting on their laps.
“We have waited since 2012 for somebody to understand our problems,” Coleman was shown saying in the video as she appealed to both Obama and Trump to rescue her family. It was not clear if Coleman, who indicated the video was recorded on Dec. 3, was reading from a script.
The couple last appeared in a video in August, without their children, urging their governments to pressure Kabul to change its policy on executions of captured insurgents.
In early May, Kabul hanged six Taliban-linked inmates, in the first set of executions carried out as part of President Ashraf Ghani’s new hard-line policy against the militants who are stepping up their nationwide offensive.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said he could not immediately comment on the latest video when contacted.
There was also no immediate reaction from the US State Department or the Afghan government.
Red Cross worker kidnapped
Gunmen have abducted a Spanish employee of the Red Cross in northern Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday, the latest in a series of kidnappings of foreigners in the conflict-torn country.
The abduction occurred on Monday when workers of the international charity were traveling in two vehicles from Mazar-e-Sharif city to the volatile Taliban hotbed of Kunduz.
“One male colleague was taken. The rest were let go,” the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement.
“We’re extremely concerned for the safety of our colleague. We’re doing our best to discover what precisely happened, and to secure his safe and unconditional release as quickly as possible.”
A diplomatic source in Madrid confirmed he was a Spanish national.
“We can say that a Spanish Red Cross worker is being held against his will in the north of Afghanistan,” the source said, without offering other details.
No militant group has so far claimed responsibility for the abduction.
Local authorities are investigating the incident, Kunduz government spokesman Sayed Mahmood Danish said.
Canadian Joshua Boyle and his American wife Caitlan Coleman had two sons after being kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012 during a backpacking trip.
In the four-minute video shared by the SITE Intelligence group, the couple were shown with their two young sons sitting on their laps.
“We have waited since 2012 for somebody to understand our problems,” Coleman was shown saying in the video as she appealed to both Obama and Trump to rescue her family. It was not clear if Coleman, who indicated the video was recorded on Dec. 3, was reading from a script.
The couple last appeared in a video in August, without their children, urging their governments to pressure Kabul to change its policy on executions of captured insurgents.
In early May, Kabul hanged six Taliban-linked inmates, in the first set of executions carried out as part of President Ashraf Ghani’s new hard-line policy against the militants who are stepping up their nationwide offensive.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said he could not immediately comment on the latest video when contacted.
There was also no immediate reaction from the US State Department or the Afghan government.
Red Cross worker kidnapped
Gunmen have abducted a Spanish employee of the Red Cross in northern Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday, the latest in a series of kidnappings of foreigners in the conflict-torn country.
The abduction occurred on Monday when workers of the international charity were traveling in two vehicles from Mazar-e-Sharif city to the volatile Taliban hotbed of Kunduz.
“One male colleague was taken. The rest were let go,” the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement.
“We’re extremely concerned for the safety of our colleague. We’re doing our best to discover what precisely happened, and to secure his safe and unconditional release as quickly as possible.”
A diplomatic source in Madrid confirmed he was a Spanish national.
“We can say that a Spanish Red Cross worker is being held against his will in the north of Afghanistan,” the source said, without offering other details.
No militant group has so far claimed responsibility for the abduction.
Local authorities are investigating the incident, Kunduz government spokesman Sayed Mahmood Danish said.
