An elderly British couple taken captive by the Taliban have been interrogated 29 times since they were imprisoned more than two months ago, and still have “absolutely no idea” why they have been incarcerated, their daughter has said.
No charges have been brought against Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife, Barbie, 75, who ran school training programmes and were arrested alongside an American friend, Faye Hall, as they travelled to their home in Bamyan province, in central Afghanistan, in February.
Hall was released last weekend after the Trump administration lifted bounties worth $10m (£7.8m) from the heads of senior Taliban figures, including Sirajuddin Haqqani, the interior minister.
Their daughter, Susie Romer, told Channel 5 that hearing her parents cry on the phone was “excruciating” for her, and called on the UK government to do more to secure their release.
The daughter of Peter and Barbie Reynolds, a British couple currently being held by the Taliban, has told 5 News in an exclusive interview that she urges the UK government to do more to secure their release.
— Channel 5 News (@5_News) April 10, 2025
Susie Romer says her parents have lived in Afghanistan for over 18… pic.twitter.com/Rs3gn58rgQ
Romer said that although the British government had been assisting the family, she would like the government to do more to make it clear to the Taliban that her parents “should be immediately released”, she said.
“It’s been 10 weeks now, and we’ve not been reassured that this message has been conveyed, but this is really urgent.
“Each day that they remain in prison, they’re at risk, so we’ll keep on asking the government to send that message.”
The couple have endured 29 interrogations so far, and have now been told “there is not actually a charge against them”, she said.
She described the conditions her parents were being held in as “absolutely horrific”. Mice and cockroaches are “running about” their cells and they receive just one meal a day.
In recordings shared with the Sunday Times last week, Peter Reynolds said: “I’ve been joined up with rapists and murderers by handcuffs and ankle cuffs, including a man who killed his wife and three children, shouting away, a demon-possessed man.”
He said he was living in “a cage rather than a cell”, but described his circumstances as “VIP conditions” compared with where his wife was being held.
During an interview with BBC News last week, the couple’s son, Jonathan Reynolds, said he had been “interacting” with the US government after a video plea to Donald Trump for help to have his parents released.
This week, the Taliban told the Associated Press the case “will soon be resolved” and “should not be a cause for concern”.
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We are supporting the family of two British nationals who are detained in Afghanistan.”
