June 28, 2026 02:12 am (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Fresh paper leak rocks India: Maharashtra TET postponed a day before exam, over 4 lakh aspirants affected | Pune fort murder case: Siya Goyal's brother says family would have called off marriage if she had objected | Donald Trump gets a road named after him in India, says 'Thank You!' | Fresh setback for Gautam Adani? US judge asks DoJ to justify dropping criminal charges | Ram Mandir Trust chief Champat Rai resigns as alleged donation siphoning row escalates | Ram Mandir fund row deepens: 8 arrested days after BJP called allegations 'false narrative' | 'Who tied the hands of CBI?': Calcutta HC on RG Kar case; victim's mother, now BJP MLA, says she is 'deeply disturbed' | Construction comes to a standstill at nearly 700 Kolkata projects after Taratala warehouse tragedy kills 15 | World Cup shocker! Ecuador stun Germany 2-1, storm into Round of 32 | Iran-US conflict: Cargo vessel hit near Strait of Hormuz, UN agency pauses evacuation operations

American-Canadian family held hostage for five years by Taliban freed by Pakistan Army

| | Oct 13, 2017, at 11:09 pm
Islamabad, Oct 13 (IBNS): The Pakistani Army has said it has freed a North American family of five who were held hostage by the Afghan Taliban.

"Canadian Joshua Boyle and his US wife Caitlan Coleman were kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012. They had three children while in captivity," BBC reported.

Pakistan's ISPR said in a statement: "Pak Army in coordination with  intelligence agencies  recovered 5 Western hostages including 1 Canadian, his US National wife and their three children from terrorist custody through an intelligence based operation by Pakistan troops and intelligence agencies."

They were captured by Terrorists from Afghanistan during 2012 and kept as hostages there. US intelligence agencies had been tracking them and shared their shifting across to Pakistan on 11 Oct 2017 through Kurram Agency border.

The statement further read: "The operation by Pakistani forces, based on actionable intelligence from US authorities was successful; all hostages were recovered safe and sound and are being repatriated to the country of their origin. The success underscores the importance of timely intelligence sharing and Pakistan's continued commitment towards fighting this menace through cooperation between two forces against a common enemy."

Meanwhile, as per media reports, the family has boarded a flight to Canada on Friday.

The American-Canadian family that was freed from Taliban captivity by Pakistan Army boarded a flight to Canada on Friday, Geo News reported citing airport sources.

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.