Trapped and Forgotten: The Shocking Reality of Brits Imprisoned in Afghanistan Revealed by US Insider

Imagine being locked away in a cramped, barbed-wire prison, surrounded by murderers, not knowing if you’ll see tomorrow—and you’re in your late seventies. That grim reality has become the daily nightmare for Peter and Barbie Reynolds, a British couple caught in Taliban custody since February. Having spent nearly two decades in Afghanistan running school programmes and even gaining citizenship, they’re now fighting for their lives in conditions so dire that a recently freed American friend has tearfully pleaded for their rescue. With their son’s heartfelt calls for help echoing across continents, one can’t help but wonder: when does hope turn into desperation in a place where time is no friend? Dive into their heartbreaking story and the complex web of politics and humanity surrounding it. LEARN MORE.

The conditions of Brits imprisoned by the Taliban have been released, and according to a woman who was locked up with them, it’s looking critical.

After the son of an elderly British couple held by the Taliban issued a plea to President Donald Trump following the release of US citizen Faye Hall, she opened up on the dire situation.

Peter Reynolds, 79, and Barbie, 75, were arrested by the group in February of this year after they were travelling home in the Bamyan province of Afghanistan, where the couple lived.

Peter and Barbie got married in Kabul in 1970, ran school training programmes, and gained Afghan citizenship, having lived in Afghanistan for 18 years before their arrest.

The Taliban took over the area in 2021, and the couple remained as the Taliban approved of their training.

Faye Hall has spoken out about Peter and Barbie Reynolds’ condition (BBC)

Peter, Barbie, and Hall, who is a friend from the US, had rented a plane so they could travel together, were all locked up.

While Hall was released and is now the fourth American citizen to be released by the Taliban since January, Peter and Barbie are still there.

The pair do not know why they have been detained.

In an interview with BBC Breakfast, her first since her release, she described the conditions they’d found themselves in, as well as her concerns for Peter and Barbie’s health.

Hall claimed they were held in cramped cells at a maximum-security prison, which also kept ‘murderers’. She said the location was fenced with barbed wire and guards carried machine guns, and ‘every day you do not know where you’ll be tomorrow’.

She further claimed that Barbie had lost a lot of weight and was unable to walk or stand when she last saw her, adding that Peter was also getting more and more sick, despite being given medication from the Qatari government, which he required after undergoing heart surgery and cancer treatment.

Peter and Barbie Reynolds are being held in an Afghan prison (Handout)

“We just have these elderly people, they’re literally dying, and time is running out,” she said. “It’s not a healthy environment and we were the only foreigners there.”

In July, the BBC reported the UN feared that the couple could die ‘in such degrading conditions’ if they did not receive medical care in good time, as they were being held in an ‘inhumane’ way.

The couple’s son, Jonathan Reynolds, had also spoken of his fear that his parents may ‘die in prison’, telling the BBC: “My dad’s health is deteriorating fast, in particular.

“Now he’s maybe got something like early Parkinson’s – tremors and shakes down the right side of his body, his arms and face.”

Their son Jonathan Reynolds has also spoken of his fears around his parents’ health (BBC)

He added that his mother had ‘blue hands and feet to do with anaemia, malnutrition, just not getting the right healthcare’.

Jonathan said that the UK government had been ‘very, very supportive’, and that he had been ‘interacting’ with the US government, since he has both UK and US citizenship.

Hall has called on both governments to ‘work’ together to secure the Reynold’s release, as she said in tears: “I love them, I know they will be out very soon, don’t ever give up.”

The UK Foreign Office said: “We are supporting the family of two British Nationals who are detained in Afghanistan. The Minister has met the family to discuss the case.”

LADbible Group has contacted the UK Foreign Office for further comment.