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American Woman and Family Freed After Years Held Captive by Taliban
“The United States government, working in conjunction with the Government of Pakistan, has secured the release of the Boyle-Coleman family from captivity in Pakistan,” the statement said.
Caitlan Coleman, 32, her Canadian Husband and their three young children had been held captive since 2012, by Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network.
“In 2012, U.S. citizen Caitlan Coleman and Canadian citizen Joshua Boyle were taken hostage by the Haqqani network. Their three children were subsequently born in captivity. Today they are safe and secure,” the statement said.
The family were freed during an operation involving Pakistani forces. The operation was undertaken by Pakistani forces based on actionable intelligence provided by U.S. authorities, according to a statement by the ISPR as cited by Fox News.
U.S. intelligence agencies had been tracking the hostages and shared the location with Pakistani counterparts when the hostages shifted into Pakistani territory Wednesday.
President Donald Trump appeared to hint at the news of Coleman’s release during a speech in Coleman’s home state of Pennsylvania on Wednesday.
“Something happened today, where a country that totally disrespected us called with some very, very important news,” Trump said. “And one of my generals came in. They said, ‘You know, I have to tell you, a year ago they would’ve never done that.’ It was a great sign of respect. You’ll probably be hearing about it over the next few days. But this is a country that did not respect us. This is a country that respects us now. The world is starting to respect us again, believe me.”
Coleman and Boyle were last seen in a hostage video in December 2016 pleading for their governments to intervene.
Coleman’s parents, Jim and Lyn Coleman, last heard from their son-in-law on Oct. 8, 2012, from an internet cafe in what Josh described as an “unsafe” part of Afghanistan, Fox News reported.