Taliban deny rape and murder of foreign captives

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) - The Taliban in Afghanistan on Sunday denied claims by a former Canadian hostage that the militant group had raped his wife and killed his infant child during their five years in custody.

Joshua Boyle and his pregnant American wife Caitlan Coleman were kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012. They were released by Pakistani troops this week and arrived in Canada with their three children on Friday.

“The stupidity and evil of the Haqqani network in the kidnapping … was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorizing the murder of my infant daughter,” Boyle said after arriving in Canada.

Calling the charges “false and fabricated,” Zabiulllah Mujahid, the group's spokesman, said: “From the time the couple were detained until their release, the husband and wife were not separated from one another precisely due to the fact that the Mujahideen did not want to incite any suspicion.”

"Similarly the murder of a child is also a baseless allegation, although during a period of detention an incident did take place when the woman became ill. The area was remote, no doctors were present, and due to this severe condition, the woman had a natural miscarriage of a girl. No one has either intentionally murdered the child of this couple and neither has anyone violated or defiled them," he added.

The couple had at least three children during their captivity.

Mujahid claimed the “enemy” had dictated the allegations to “defame” the Taliban.