American Hostage And Her Family Rescued After Being Held Captive By A Taliban-Linked Group

Five years ago, an American woman and her family were captured by a Taliban-linked group while “hiking in Afghanistan.”

Don’t ask me why anyone would go on a family hike in Afghanistan.

Good news. They’ve been rescued!

The rescue, prompted by a tip from U.S. intelligence officers tracking the family, was announced in a statement Thursday from Pakistan’s army.

 

President Donald Trump identified the rescued captives as 31-year-old American Caitlan Coleman, 34-year-old Canadian Joshua Boyle and their three children.

The Pakistani Army announced it “recovered five Western hostages including one Canadian, his U.S. national wife and their three children from terrorist custody through an intelligence-based operation by Pakistan troops and intelligence agencies.”

“The operation by Pakistani forces, based on actionable intelligence from U.S. authorities, was successful; all hostages were recovered safe and sound,” it added.

President Trump just released the following statement:

In 2012, Caitlan Coleman, an American citizen, and her husband, Joshua Boyle, a Canadian citizen, were taken captive and held hostage by the Haqqani network, a terrorist organization with ties to the Taliban. Ms. Coleman gave birth to the couple’s three children while they were in captivity. Yesterday, the United States government, working in conjunction with the Government of Pakistan, secured the release of the Boyle-Coleman family from captivity in Pakistan.

 

Today they are free. This is a positive moment for our country’s relationship with Pakistan. The Pakistani government’s cooperation is a sign that it is honoring America’s wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region. We hope to see this type of cooperation and teamwork in helping secure the release of remaining hostages and in our future joint counterterrorism operations.