Taliban rejects freed Canadian captive's allegations of murder, rape

Islamabad [Pakistan], Oct 15 (ANI): The Afghan Taliban has denied the allegations levelled by the freed Canadian captive that his wife was raped and one of their infant children was killed by the militants during their captivity.

Terming Boyle's allegations as 'baseless', Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Afghan Taliban, claimed that the group had never raped any woman or hostages meant to be exchanged for Taliban prisoners.

He said the group never raped Boyle's wife, Caitlan Coleman, and never even parted the pair from each other in the past five years that they were in captivity.

"We have taken many foreigners hostage during our operations in the country and in the last three decades, but we have never allowed our commanders to violate the rule of jihad," the Express Tribune quoted Mujahid as saying.

"We have harsh rules for all commanders, foot soldiers and followers - never endanger the life of minors, women and those who left their women during the fight," he added.

Boyle, who was freed from the traps of the Haqqani network earlier this week, had accused the members of the terror group of raping his wife and killing his daughter soon after arriving in Canada.

"The stupidity and the 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 authorizing the murder of my infant daughter, Martyr Boyle," CNN quoted Joshua Boyle as saying upon his arrival at Toronto's Pearson Airport Friday night.

Joshua Boyle, his American wife, Caitlan Coleman and their three children were freed on Thursday in a joint operation carried out by Pakistani forces based on intelligence from US authorities.

The couple was held for five years by the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network in Afghanistan after their kidnapping in 2012. Their three children were born during their time in captivity.

He said his captors' actions were a retaliation for his "repeated refusal to accept an offer" from them.

He said Caitlan was raped by a guard, who was assisted by his superiors. (ANI)