A Canadian man who was freed along with his family after five years in militant captivity in Afghanistan said his captors authorized the killing of one of his children and raped his wife.<\/b>
\nA Canadian man who was freed along with his family after five years in militant captivity in Afghanistan said his captors authorized the killing of one of his children and raped his wife.
\u201cThe stupidity and the evil of the Haqqani network\u2019s 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,\u201d Joshua Boyle told reporters upon his arrival Friday night at Toronto\u2019s Pearson International Airport.
He said his goal now is to build \u201ca secure sanctuary for our three surviving children to call a home\u2026 and try to regain some portion of the childhood that they have lost.\u201d
His captors\u2019 actions were in retaliation for his \u201crepeated refusal to accept an offer\u201d from them, he said, without providing details on what the offer was.
Boyle, his American wife, Caitlan Coleman, and their three children were freed Thursday in a mission that Pakistani forces carried out based on intelligence from US authorities. CNN affiliate CTV reported that Boyle and his family were expected to return to his hometown of Smiths Falls, Ontario, with his parents.
Boyle told CNN\u2019s Paula Newton he and his family are doing as well as can be expected.
\u201cThe kids are learning what it\u2019s like to be in a real home,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s funny \u2014 they\u2019ve flushed the toilet like 200 times but haven\u2019t really been playing with toys.\u201d
\u201cWe join the Boyle family in rejoicing over the long-awaited return to Canada of their loved ones,\u201d the Canadian government said Friday.
\u201cCanada has been actively engaged on Mr. Boyle\u2019s case at all levels, and we will continue to support him and his family now that they have returned.\u201d
The couple was held for five years by the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network in Afghanistan after their kidnapping in 2012. Coleman was pregnant at the time of their kidnapping, and all their children were born while they were in captivity.
Boyle did not say whether the militants killed a child, only that his captors were responsible for \u201cauthorizing the murder\u201d of his infant daughter.
Sources close to the family said Boyle alluded to at least one forced abortion while in captivity.
Boyle said his wife was raped by a guard who was assisted by his superiors, and he asked Afghan authorities to bring them to justice.
Boyle\u2019s father, Patrick, said his son told him in a phone call after his release that the abuse his wife suffered during captivity was far worse than alluded to in \u201cproof of life\u201d videos the militants previously released of the family.
\u201cI 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\u2019s commitment to do the right thing, no matter the cost,\u201d Boyle said.
The Canadian said he had been in Afghanistan \u201chelping 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.\u201d
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.
\u201cI 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,\u201d he said.
Boyle was previously married to the sister of Omar Khadr, a Canadian imprisoned for 10 years at the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after fighting US troops in Afghanistan.
The US official said there were some questions surrounding Boyle\u2019s past, but the Department of Justice said he did not face arrest.
\u201cColeman and Boyle are not charged with any federal crime and, as such, we do not seek their arrest,\u201d spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle said.
Before the family\u2019s arrival in Canada, Patrick Boyle told CNN his son had described the rescue mission during a phone call.
\u201cThe five of them (were) in the back of a car being transferred and a car being stopped, surrounded by, Josh described, 35 Pakistani army officials,\u201d Patrick Boyle said.
\u201cA firefight (breaks) out, that all five captors had been killed by the Pakistani army, and all five of our Boyles are safe and OK. Josh said he was hit with some shrapnel, and our governments have confirmed that he was damaged in the leg. That\u2019s all we know right now about that.\u201d
Patrick Boyle said the sudden turn of events was nothing short of miraculous.
\u201cCait, in her last video, said if all five of them make it out, it\u2019s going to be a miracle,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re living a miracle.\u201d
Boyle told CNN he cooperated with the Pakistani military in making a video not long after his family\u2019s rescue. The video, released Saturday, probably was made to improve morale, he said.
\u201cYou could say that it was partially scripted but I was fine with doing it,\u201d he said.
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Filed in: News
Topics: Taliban<\/p>\n

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