An elderly British couple released by the Taliban authorities after almost eight months in detention in Afghanistan arrived back in the UK on Saturday, telling the press that they feared “we would never be released”.

Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbie, 76, arrived on a flight from the Qatari capital Doha, where they had stayed for medical checks following their release on Friday.

Barbie Reynolds smiled broadly as the couple walked out of the arrivals area at London’s Heathrow airport, accompanied by their daughter and British special representative to Afghanistan Richard Lindsay.

After their return, Peter Reynolds told The Times that the couple had “begun to think that we would never be released, or that we were even being held until we were executed”.

“We are bewildered as to why

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