Jump to content
  • entries
    181,169
  • comments
    31
  • views
    418,889

l_164243_045647_updates.jpg
164243_7443723_updates.jpg

American Caitlan Coleman, wife of Canadian Joshua Boyle, recounted her harrowing ordeal while under the captivity of militants for nearly five years with Canada's The Star

Remembering the day she was freed in a joint Pakistan Army and intelligence operation, Coleman said she was put in the trunk of the kidnappers' car, after which there was "some sort of car chase and gun battle" before they were freed. 

?Our first fear ? why we were not poking our heads up and yelling for help ? was our fear that it was another gang trying to kidnap us. Possibly just part of the Haqqani network fighting with another part. They?re all just bandits,? she said.

She added that when one is held a prisoner for so long, one becomes suspicious of everything. 

Coleman further said she does not remember breaking down or how she reacted once she was set free by Pakistani forces. 

?I think I was mostly just in shock," said Coleman, in what is her first talk with the media after being rescued.  

Her husband spoke soon after arriving in Canada and has spoken multiple times to the media, detailing his ordeal

American Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, were kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012 by the Taliban-allied Haqqani network. 

She told the Canadian publication that she is aware of the criticism on social media and elsewhere calling her husband and her reckless for travelling in war-torn Afghanistan while she was pregnant. 

Talking about her kidnapping, Coleman said the US-Candian couple were held in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to Caitlin claims made by both US and Pakistan regarding the couples captivity were not accurate. 

Elaborating further about the kidnapping, she said first they were taken to a location which was several day's drive, where they were kept for more than a year.  

"It was very bad. My husband and I were separated at that time. He wasn?t allowed to see Najaeshi [eldest son] or spend any time with us.?

Coleman, continuing the story of her life in captivity, said they were moved to a house of a man called Mahmoud. 

"He was very nice to Najaeshi and would provide us with amenities we wouldn?t have otherwise. He would take Najaeshi out to get him sunlight and nobody else did that at any other point," said the former hostage. 

During 2014 and 2015, the family was moved often. She was then moved to Spin Ghar, southeast of Kabul in Afghanistan. Coleman said the family was often drugged for transport and put in the trunk of a vehicle.

?They were always saying you?ll go free in one week or two weeks and this was one of the times they said, ?We?re going to this new place and one day, two day, maybe a week, you go free, you?re released.? ?

The American-Canadian couple gave the houses they were kept in nicknames, the house in Spin Ghar became "House of One Day." The family was held captive there for months.

During the interview, Coleman said that a custom-built house was built for them. 

?Then they built a custom-built house for us. It was still close, in Spin Ghar. It was not good, not bad. It had problems, but no big problems ? After that, we just stayed in a house for a short time, a day or two, because they were clearly running from something."

"It was so bizarre."

Another location the hostages were kept in was referred to as Cat Hotel and they could see the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan from the location. 

The hostage also recalled how the militants acquired a truck, which was then used to transport them to Pakistan. 

Coleman and her husband Boyle then spent their final months of captivity in a location they referred to as ?Dar el Musa?.

?Outside every day they were doing some training, or something was going on, and some guy was shouting and we laughed because whoever Musa was, he was not doing a good job,? she said. 

Elaborating further, she said they were held in the house until just two days before they were rescued, when they were transferred to the "Mud House". 

The Pakistan Army announced on October 12 that the hostages had been "recovered... from terrorist custody through an intelligence-based operation by Pakistani troops." 

US intelligence services had been tracking the movement of the hostages and informed their Pakistani partners when the hostages were moved across the Pak-Afghan border into Kurram Agency on October 11, 2017.



0 Comments


Recommended Comments

There are no comments to display.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...