A Canadian man who was freed along with his family after five years in militant captivity in Pakistan said his captors authorized the killing of one of his children and raped his wife.
“The stupidity and the evil of the Haqqani network’s kidnapping of a pilgrim and his heavily pregnant wife engaged in helping ordinary villagers in Taliban-controlled regions of Afghanistan was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorizing the murder of my infant daughter, Martyr Boyle,” Joshua Boyle told reporters upon his arrival at Toronto’s Pearson Airport Friday night.
He said his captors’ actions were a retaliation for his “repeated refusal to accept an offer” from them.
Boyle, his American wife, Caitlan Coleman, and their three children were freed Thursday in a mission carried out by Pakistani forces based on intelligence from US authorities.
The couple was held for five years by the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network in Afghanistan after their kidnapping in 2012. Their three children were born during their time in captivity.
Coleman was pregnant at the time of their kidnapping and had two more children in captivity. Boyle did not say whether a death actually occurred, only that his captors were responsible for “authorizing the murder” of his infant daughter.
He said Coleman was raped by a guard who was assisted by his superiors and asked Afghan authorities to bring them to justice.
“I certainly do not intend to allow a brutal and sacrilegious gang of criminal miscreants to dictate the future direction of my family, nor to weaken my family’s commitment to do the right thing, no matter the cost,” he said.
Boyle said he had been in Afghanistan “helping the most neglected minority group in the world, those ordinary villagers that live deep inside Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, where no NGO, no aid worker and no government has ever successfully been able to bring the necessary help.”
A senior official had said Boyle refused to board an American military plane on Thursday over concerns he could face arrest. Boyle said his family had been delayed due to a medical emergency surrounding one of his children.
“I assure you, I have never refused to board any mode of transportation that would bring me closer to home, closer to Canada and back with my family,” he said.
Boyle was previously married to the sister of Omar Kadhr, a Canadian imprisoned for 10 years at the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after fighting US troops in Afghanistan.
The US official said there were some questions surrounding Boyle’s past, but the Department of Justice said he did not face arrest.
“Coleman and Boyle are not charged with any federal crime and, as such, we do not seek their arrest,” spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle said.
‘We are living a miracle’
Before Boyle’s arrival in Canada, his father, Patrick, told CNN that his son had described the rescue mission during a phone call.
“The five of them being in the back of a car being transferred and a car being stopped, surrounded by, Josh described, 35 Pakistani Army officials,” Patrick Boyle said.
“A firefight breaking out, that all five captors had been killed by the Pakistani Army, and all five of our Boyles are safe and okay. Josh said he was hit with some shrapnel and our governments have confirmed that he was damaged in the leg. That’s all we know right now about that.”
Boyle said the sudden turn of events was nothing short of miraculous.
“Cait, in her last video said if all five of them make it out, it’s going to be a miracle,” Boyle said. “And we’re living a miracle.”
