Canadian man, family held by radicals freed after 5 years

A Canadian man, his US wife and three children are said to free after five years in captivity at the hands of the Taliban. Associated Press says the US secured the release of Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman. They were abducted five years ago while travelling in Afghanistan and have been held by what is said to the Haqqani network. Coleman was pregnant when she was captured. The couple had three children while in captivity. AP says family’s current location is unclear and officials declined to say when the family planned to return to North America. The U.S. has criticized Pakistan for failing to aggressively go after the Haqqanis. A  US national security official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing operation, commended Pakistan for their assistance.

MARRIED TO OMAR KHADR’S SISTER

Joshua Boyle is described by Wikipedia as the second of five children of Patrick and Linda Boyle. He attended a Mennonite school and was involved with his mother’s “Anglican church and his father’s Catholic faith.” He graduated with a B.A. from the University of Waterloo in 2005.[ He is known by his friends as a pacifist.  Boyle expressed interest in doing humanitarian work in places known to be dangerous. Boyle had a long-standing interest in Islamic terrorism, stating in 2009 that “anything related to terrorism on Wikipedia, I wrote, pretty much.” He took an interest in the Gitmo detainee, Omar Khadr and married Omar’s sister Zaynab Khadr in 2009 becoming her third husband