A US-Canadian couple and their three children have been freed nearly five years after the couple was abducted in Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s army announced the release of the family on Thursday.
While details were not available as to how the Pakistani military secured the release of the family, it said it had acted on intelligence provided by the United States.
“The success underscores the importance of timely intelligence sharing and Pakistan’s continued commitment towards fighting this menace (terrorism) through cooperation between two forces against a common enemy,” the Pakistani army said in statement.
American Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, had been captured in 2012 by the Taliban-allied Haqqani network while traveling in a mountainous region near the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Coleman was pregnant at the time of her abduction.
In 2016, Taliban released a video from Afghanistan that showed the couple warning that they would be killed if their captors’ demands were not met. In the video, Boyle and Coleman urged Canada and the US to pressure the Afghan government into changing its policy of executing captured Taliban prisoners.
A video released later showed their two sons born while in captivity, and the Thursday statement was the first mention of a third child.
Pakistan and the US have had uneasy relations since US President Donald Trump accused Islamabad of providing safe haven to militant groups.
However, Trump on Thursday praised Pakistan for securing the release of the family.
“The Pakistani government’s cooperation is a sign that it is honoring America’s wish that it do more to provide security in the region,” Trump said at a White House event. “They worked very hard on this and I believe they are starting to respect the United States again.”
Canada also thanked the governments of the US, Pakistan, and Afghanistan for their efforts in securing the family’s release.
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