Camilla Jessen
British couple describe ‘hell’ inside Taliban prison.
An elderly British couple have spoken publicly about months spent inside one of Afghanistan’s most feared prisons, describing conditions they say left them unsure they would survive.
Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbie, 76, had lived in Afghanistan for 18 years. They were arrested in February 2025 while travelling back to their home in Bamyan province, according to The Times.
After the Taliban takeover in August 2021, the couple chose not to flee.
“Our neighbours were all trying to get away in their cars. The airport was chaos,” Peter told The Times. “We’d already decided to stay… We weren’t going to desert them in their worst hour of need.”
They had recently obtained Afghan citizenship and passports, he said.
Arrest and detention
After landing in Bamyan, the couple were summoned to what they were told would be a meeting with a commander.
Instead, they were detained and taken to Pul-e-Charkhi prison near Kabul.
What was expected to be brief questioning turned into nearly eight months in custody, including three months in the maximum-security facility, also known as the Afghan National Detention Facility.
Life inside Pul-e-Charkhi
Peter described being held apart from his wife.
“I got to know every crack in the walls of that cell,” he said. “And we had a very big rat that would run over my pillow before he came to an untimely death with a shoe.”
He said he was repeatedly denied contact with Barbie. “I couldn’t get anybody to agree to me seeing Barbie… I would be asking, ‘Is my wife still alive?’”
Barbie described severe overcrowding and poor sanitation. “Everybody gets a blanket provided by an NGO, which we had to wash ourselves every two weeks,” she said. “There were four showers, but none worked, so we had to use taps.”
She added that the toilet was “just a squatty potty, a hole in the ground,” and said hygiene was often poor.
Release and return
The couple were released on 19 September 2025 following pressure from family, media attention and intervention by the UK Foreign Office, according to The Times.
They said there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
Barbie recalled the moment of release. “Then suddenly the door opens and in walk two people from the British Foreign Office… as well as Qataris in their long white robes, a medical team and some other Afghans.”
Peter said their departure included unexpected comforts. “When I saw steak — filet mignon — I said, forget the alternatives, I’m having that.”
The couple returned to the UK with nothing but the clothes they were wearing and are now living with their son in Bath.
“All our belongings are still in Afghanistan, and the Taliban have sealed our house, so no one can go there,” Peter said.
Sources: The Times, AFP
