An American woman and her family who was freed from the custody of a Taliban-linked group in Pakistan returned to Canada Friday night, five years after the couple was captured and held hostage, and the woman’s family is calling her sudden freedom “an answer to our prayers.”
Caitlan Coleman, who was pregnant when she and her Canadian Joshua Boyle were kidnapped by militants while hiking in Afghanistan in late 2012, landed in Toronto after flying from London, the Associated Press reported.
Coleman’s father, Jim Coleman, said in a phone interview with NBC News Friday that they are happy their daughter and her family is safe. He said his wife Lynda spoke with their daughter briefly on the phone shortly after their release.
“It was a quick conversation. She mostly said that she, Josh, and the children were okay. And that they’re looking forward to freedom,” Jim Coleman said. “We didn’t push her on any details, just happy to know they’re safe.”
Caitlan Coleman, Boyle, and their three children which they had while in captivity were freed by the Pakistan military on Thursday, in what a military official of that country described as an operation in which sharpshooters fired at the tires of a vehicle.
U.S. military officials have pushed back on the idea that the release was a result of an armed confrontation, and one official described it as more of a diplomatic handover.
Jim Coleman said news that their daughter and her family had been freed came as a surprise. “We were as shocked as anyone,” he said. “It’s an answer to our prayers.”
He questions why Boyle took their pregnant daughter hiking in Afghanistan, a country known to be dangerous to Americans. “How would you feel if your seven-month pregnant daughter was put in such a situation?” he said.
Jim Coleman said they have no immediate plans to go to Canada. “We want to see how things play out for now,” he said. “I’m not on the best of terms with my son-in-law, as you can tell.”
Caitlan Coleman and Boyle were captured by the Haqqani Network, whose leader is the deputy head of the Afghan Taliban. The insurgent group also held Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five years. The Afghan Taliban obtained five top commanders in exchange for the U.S. soldier in 2014 in a deal with the U.S. that was brokered by Qatar.
The couple had pleaded for their release in propaganda videos released by their captors. In one released in December, Coleman referred to “the Kafkaesque nightmare in which we find ourselves” and urged “governments on both sides” to reach a deal for their freedom.
Caitlan Coleman and Boyle married in 2011 during a trip to Costa Rica, about a year before they were captured in Afghanistan. They had three children while being held captive. Two sons are about 4 years old and 2-and-a-half years old, and a daughter is a few months old, Jim Coleman said.
The Pakistan military said this week that after it was alerted by U.S. intelligence that the family was being moved across the border from Afghanistan, a team that included infantry and intelligence personnel raced to surround the vehicle.
The driver and an accomplice abandoned the vehicle and escaped to a nearby refugee camp, and the hostages were left behind, Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor, a spokesman for the Pakistani military, has said.
Canada’s government said in a statement Friday that “we join the Boyle family in rejoicing over the long-awaited return to Canada of their loved ones,” and said it would continue to support the family.
Jim Coleman said he hopes their daughter and her family return to the United States, but are unsure of her plans. He said he’s hopeful she accepts a Department of Defense or other program to help them get re-acclimated to life outside of captivity, including psychological counseling for their children.
“I mean what do you do — how do you readjust after being held hostage for five years? It’s not going to be easy,” Jim Coleman said.
“We’re hopeful, but unsure what lies ahead,” he said.