The Taliban has released an American hostage along with her Canadian husband and their three children, a U.S. official and the Pakistani military said Thursday.
Caitlan Coleman, who is originally from Pennsylvania, and Joshua Boyle were kidnapped by the militants while hiking in Afghanistan in late 2012.
Coleman was pregnant when she was captured. The couple had three children while in captivity.
The five family members were in the custody of officials from the U.S. Embassy in neighboring Pakistan, according to a U.S. official.
The Pakistani military confirmed the news in a statement.
The Pakistani Army “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,” according to the statement.
Coleman and her husband had been held for five years and one day, according to the U.S. official.
The Pakistani statement said the family had been held in Afghanistan but that “U.S. intelligence agencies has been tracking them” and shared that they had crossed the border on Wednesday.
It added: “The operation by Pakistani forces, based on actionable intelligence from U.S. authorities, was successful; all hostages were recovered safe and sound.”
The U.S. military referred all questions to the State Department.