Afghanistan Times
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KABUL — A 79-year-old British man held by the Taliban in a maximum-security prison in Kabul has described harrowing conditions behind bars, saying he is living in “the nearest thing to hell I can imagine,” and expressing deep concern for the wellbeing of his wife, who is also imprisoned.
Peter Reynolds and his wife, Barbie, have been detained since early February at Pul-e-Charkhi prison, Afghanistan’s largest detention facility. The couple, who have lived and worked in the country for nearly two decades, were arrested after traveling to their home in Bamiyan province aboard a small charter plane.
In audio recordings shared with The Sunday Times, Reynolds detailed his treatment inside the men’s section of the prison, where he is being held in chains alongside violent criminals. “I’ve been joined up with rapists and murderers by handcuffs and ankle cuffs, including a man who killed his wife and three children,” he said. “A demon-possessed man, shouting away.”
Reynolds described his cell as a cage and said he has lost weight and is subsisting on a single meal a day. Yet he said his conditions were “VIP” compared to those his wife is enduring in the women’s section of the prison, which he has been unable to visit.
The couple have been involved in educational projects in Afghan schools since 2006 and chose to stay in the country even after the Taliban regained power in 2021.
According to Reynolds, their arrest stemmed from the claim that the chartered plane they were flying lacked proper landing permissions. Initially told they would be released shortly, they were instead transferred to the Taliban-controlled interior ministry and later moved to Pul-e-Charkhi, where their phones were confiscated and they were interrogated.
Reynolds also said that Taliban authorities seized 59 books from their home, alleging they were “against Islam.” “I asked: ‘Can you tell me any part of those books which is against Islam?’” Reynolds said. “No one has been able to, so I think it’s an outrage.”
He claims the Taliban interrogated over 30 people connected to the couple’s work, including their accountant and legal advisers. Despite no evidence of wrongdoing being found, the couple remain in custody. “They said they could find no crime. That was three weeks ago but still they haven’t released us,” Reynolds said.
Also detained alongside the couple was Chinese-American national Faye Hall, a friend who helped arrange their travel. Hall was released last week, reportedly after the Trump administration lifted multimillion-dollar bounties placed on senior Taliban figures, including Afghanistan’s interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani.
Reynolds called the Taliban’s actions “an utter disgrace and shame,” urging authorities to acknowledge what he described as a grave mistake.
