Couple kidnapped by Taliban beg for life in latest video clip

Islamabad: An American-Canadian couple kidnapped by the Taliban in 2012 said in a latest video clip that has surfaced that their captors would execute them if the Afghanistan government did not change its policies with regard to the Taliban prisoners, media reported on Wednesday.

On a backpacking trip to Afghanistan in 2012, American Joshua Boyle and his Canadian wife Caitlan Coleman were kidnapped by the Taliban and held hostage ever since. A video clip of the two shared by SITE Intelligence group showed the couple beg for their lives, urging the Afghanistan government to stop execution of Taliban prisoners, the News reported.

“They will execute us, women and children included, if the policies of the Afghan government are not overturned either by the Afghan government or by Canada somehow, or US,” said Joshua in the video.

“Our captors are terrified at the thought of their own mortality approaching and are saying that they will take reprisals on our family,” he added in the video clip.

In the video, Boyle can be seen sporting an unkempt beard while his wife Caitlan appears to be dressed in black clothing that also covers her face. Both slowly read out the words, possibly from a script not featured in the camera.