Former Canadian hostage Joshua Boyle said the Haqqani network in Afghanistan killed his infant daughter and raped his American wife during the five years they were held in captivity. Boyle gave the statement shortly after landing in Canada late Friday with his wife, Caitlan Coleman, and three young children. Media reported that the couple was rescued Wednesday, five years after they had been abducted by the Taliban-linked extremist network while in Afghanistan as part of a backpacking trip. Coleman was pregnant at the time and had four children in captivity. The birth of the fourth child had not been publicly known before Boyle appeared before journalists at the Toronto airport. “The stupidity and evil of the Haqqani network’s 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 authorising the murder of my infant daughter,” Boyle said. Boyle said his wife was raped by a guard who was assisted by his superiors. He asked for the Afghan government to bring them to justice. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Nafees Zakaria, said the Pakistani raid that led to the family’s rescue was based on a tip from US intelligence and shows that Pakistan will act against a “common enemy” when Washington shares information. US officials have long accused Pakistan of ignoring groups like the Haqqani network.
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