A British family has lost touch with their parents, aged in their 70s, after they were reportedly detained for teaching parenting skills to mothers in Afghanistan. When the Taliban suddenly seized power in 2021, university sweethearts Barbie and Peter Reynolds decided to stay.
They had spent 15 years running training projects in schools, and they had no plans to stop. They loved the country too much, so much they married in its capital Kabul in 1970. Far from being persecuted for their work, Barbie was even the first woman issued a certificate of appreciation by the Taliban.
![[Undated handout file photo of Miles Routledge in Afghanistan. Mr Routledge has been named as one of three British men being held in Taliban custody in Afghanistan. Non-profit organisation the Presidium Network is assisting two of the men, charity medic Kevin Cornwell and a second unnamed man. Issue date: Saturday April 1, 2023. PA Photo. Presidium confirmed that the third man is Miles Routledge, the British holidaymaker who received widespread attention and criticism on social media in August 2021 having travelled to Afghanistan despite the Taliban's gains in the nation. The two men being assisted by Presidium were detained by Taliban secret police on January 11. It is unclear how long Mr Routledge has been held for. See PA story POLITICS Afghanistan . Photo credit should read: Miles Routledge/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/SEI_150551886-f3ad-e1740348662663.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
‘The Taliban leaders were so impressed and inspired by the programmes Mum and Dad were offering, they said they would like them set up in every province of Afghanistan’, their daughter Sarah Entwistle told The Sunday Times. Now Barbie and Peter languish in jail, where they have been since their home in Nayak was raided on February 1.
‘This is really bad’, Sarah, from Daventry, Northamptonshire, said. ‘My mother is 75 and my father almost 80 and [he] needs his heart medication after a mini-stroke. ‘They were just trying to help the country they loved. The idea they are being held because they were teaching mothers with children is outrageous.’.
Sarah has has heard nothing of her parents’ condition for more than two weeks. For the first four days, she and her three siblings were receiving texts from their parents assuring them they were fine. But since then it’s been radio silence, prompting them to write an open letter to the Taliban, pleading for their parents’ release.
She has heard nothing for more than two weeks. After four days of text messages assuring their four children they were fine, there was suddenly radio silence. The Taliban may have banned women from working, and prohibited girls’ education beyond primary school. But the Reynolds’ projects had been approved by local authorities, leaving their children baffled by the arrests.
‘We do not understand the reasons behind their arrest’, they wrote to the Taliban leadership. ‘They have communicated their trust in you, and that as Afghan citizens they will be treated well.’. Although both have duel British and Afghan citizenship, the Foreign Office is limited in what it can do to help due to the UK not recognising the Taliban government and having no embassy in the country.
Several British nationals have been detained in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power 20 years after US-led forces and Afghan allies deposed them. Kevin Corwnell, a 54-year-old paramedic from Middlesbrough who was working with UNHCR, was detained in January 2023 over a weapon stored in a safe in his room, the licence for which was missing.
Miles Routledge, a ‘danger tourist’ from Birmingham who posts social media content from his travels, was arrested two months later. Both were released along with two other British men that October. The Foreign Office warns against all travel to Afghanistan, saying: ‘The security situation is volatile. Travel throughout Afghanistan is extremely dangerous and border crossings may not be open.
‘There is a heightened risk of British nationals being detained in Afghanistan. ‘If you are a British national and you are detained in Afghanistan, you could face months or years of imprisonment. FCDO’s ability to help you is extremely limited and support in person is not possible in Afghanistan.’.
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