Taliban hostage in Afghanistan arrested in Canada

Ottawa [Canada], January 3 (ANI): A Canadian man, who was held hostage by the Taliban earlier along with his wife, has been arrested by the Canadian police and charged with 15 counts of criminal offences.

According to Xinhua, the accused, Joshua Boyle is in police custody and faces charges such as eight counts of assault, two counts each of sexual assault and unlawful confinement and one count for misleading the police.

Boyle was also charged for uttering death protests and forcing an individual to take a noxious substance called Trazodone. According to Canadian reports, the alleged offences took place between October 14 and December 30 last year.

Before being arrested, the 34-year-old former hostage lived in a downtown Ottawa apartment with his family.

In October 2012, Boyle and his American-born wife Caitlan Coleman were kidnapped by the Haqqani network, an insurgent group linked to Afghan Taliban in Ghazni Province of Afghanistan while on a backpacking trip through Central and South Asia. They were held hostage for the last five years.

Boyle also alleged that her wife was sexually assaulted by the Taliban. Coleman, who was pregnant at that time, gave birth to three children in captivity.

On October 11 last year, with joint efforts by the United States (US) and Canada, the couple was brought back to Canada after Pakistani forces located the family and rescued them, after receiving intelligence from Afghanistan-based U.S. forces.

The couple also met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which came to light after the former had posted photos of their meeting on Twitter in December last year. (ANI)