Freed hostage Joshua Boyle says captors killed infant daughter, raped his wife

Freed years after being taken hostage in Afghanistan, Canadian Joshua Boyle,his American wife and their three children are back in Canada to "the first true 'home' that the children have ever known," after Boyle condemned hiscaptors for rapinghis wife and authorizing"the murder of my infant daughter."

The family's flight from London touched downbefore midnightFriday night at Toronto's Pearson airport, where Boyle told reporters he wants to build a "secure sanctuary" for theirthreechildren.

Overnight, the family arrived in Smiths Falls, Ont., where Joshua Boyle's parents live. Prior to the abduction, Boyle and his wife had been living in Perth-Andover, N.B.

In a statement emailed to CBC'sSusanOrmiston on Saturday, Joshua Boyle saidthe family had "reached the first true 'home' that the children have ever knownafter they spent most of Friday asking if each subsequent airport was our new house hopefully."

Boyle and Caitlan Colemanwere abducted five years ago while on a backpacking trip in Afghanistan, and were being held by the Haqqani network.

Coleman was pregnant with their first child, a boy,when the couple werecaptured by theTaliban-linkedmilitant group.Another boy and a girl were born while the family was being held hostage.

Boyle, after arrivingat Pearson airport, spoke in a statement for the first time about another daughter that he says was killed by his captors.

Boyle said he travelled to the country to help "the most neglected minority group in the world, those ordinary villagers who live deep inside Taliban-controlled Afghanistan."

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Boyle didn't provide specific details,but said 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 authorizing the murder of my infant daughter, martyr Boyle, as retaliation for my repeated refusal to accept an offer that the criminal miscreants of the Haqqani network had made to me."

Kidnapped couple, three children freed after years of captivity in Afghanistan

7 years ago

Duration 3:10

A Canadian man, his American wife, and their three young children were freed after five years of captivity in Afghanistan

He said he wants justice and won't allow the Haqqani network to weaken his family's commitment to "do the right thing, no matter the cost."

On the plane from London, Boyle provided a written statement to The Associated Press saying his family has "unparalleled resilience and determination."

Coleman sat in the aisle of the business class cabin wearing a tan-coloured head scarf. She nodded without saying a wordwhen she confirmed her identity to an Associated Press reporter aboard the flight. In the two seats next to her were her two elder children. In the seat beyond that was Boyle, with their youngest child, a girl, in his lap. U.S. State Department officials were on the plane with them.

He nodded to one of the State Department officials and said, "Their interests are not my interests."

One of his children is in poor health and reportedly had to be force-fed by their Pakistani rescuers.

Theemailsent to Ormistonalso said his infant daughter had a "cursory medical exam lastnight, and hospital staff were enthusiastically insistent that her chances seemed miraculously high based on a quick physical."

When he spoke at the Toronto airport late Friday, Boyle said he wanted to give his children a chance to build a home and "try to regain some portion of the childhood that they have lost."

'Long-awaited return'

Earlier Friday evening, Global Affairs Canada welcomed the family's return.

"Today, we join the Boyle family in rejoicing over the long-awaited return to Canada of their loved ones,"the ministry said in a statement that asked for privacy for the family.

"Canada has been actively engaged on Mr. Boyle's case at all levels, and we will continue to support him and his family now that they have returned."

The dramatic rescue came to light Thursday, when Pakistan said it had rescued the family after the captors moved them across the border from Afghanistan.

Coleman is from Stewartstown, Pa. In an interview with ABC News on Friday, her father, Jim Coleman, said he is angry at Boyle for taking her to Afghanistan.

"Taking your pregnant wife to a very dangerous place, to me, and the kind of person I am, is unconscionable," he said.

Earlier, Patrick Boyle said the family was safe "but exhausted."

He told reporters his son had been hit by shrapnel during the events leading to their release, which reportedly involved dozens of Pakistani army members. Joshua Boyle suffered a leg injury as a result, his father said.

Boyle's mother told reporters on Thursday that the family is still facing "really tough times."

"They keptthemselves strong for so long, for each other and for the kids," Linda Boyle said. "I think it's going to catch up with them, and they're probably going to have some real crashes, I expect, but we're here for them."

Rescue near Afghan-Pakistan border

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, who has met with Joshua Boyle's parents in the past, said Thursday that their son and his familyhad endured an "absolutely horrible ordeal."

Freeland refused to describe the circumstances of the release, citing security reasons, but said Canada had been working with the U.S., Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking in Mexico City where he was discussing trade talks, thanked U.S. and Pakistani officials for their efforts in freeing Boyle and his wife and children.

"We're pleased that the ordeal they've been through over these past years has finally come to an end," Trudeau said Thursday night during a news conference.

A security source told Reuters that the location of the family's eventual rescue was near the town of Kohat, some 60 kilometres inside Pakistan, along the northwestern border with Afghanistan.

Agents from Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence spy agency and soldiers attempted to intercept the vehicle the family was in, but it sped away, according to the security source.

"Our troops fired at the vehicle and burst its tires," the senior Pakistani security source told Reuters, declining to be identified because he is not authorized to speak openly to the media.

Boyle says captors 'pagans,' not Muslims

Pakistan's army released a video of Boyle to themedia on Saturday that apparently was shotbefore the family arrived in Toronto. The circumstances under which the footage was taken is not yet entirely clear, but in it, Boyle praisesthe troops behind Thursday's rescue, saying they "got between the criminals and the car to make sure the prisoners were safe and my family was safe," and they carried out the operation with precision.

Speaking in Pakistan on his second day of freedom, he said the car ended up "riddled with bullets."

He also said his captors "did not even make a pretense of being Muslim," and were guided"by their own agendas."

"The criminals who held us, they were not good Muslims, they were not even bad Muslims, they were pagans," he said.

After the rescue, a change in itinerary was reportedly required, at the behest of Joshua Boyle.

Jim Coleman said Friday he didn't understand why, according to reports, Boyle didn't let his family leave on a U.S. military plane. Coleman said if he saw an American aircraft, he'd be "running for it."

Boyle's father said his son was philosophically opposed to an initial plan that would have involved the plane landing at Bagram, Afghanistan, where the U.S. has held detainees for years without charge during its battles against the Taliban and al-Qaeda militants.

The plane instead was routed to Islamabad, Pakistan. They later travelled to England before continuing on to Canada

On Friday, Boyle offered some details on the journey, saying different governments had offered to transport the family.

"I assure you, I have never refused to board any mode of transportation that would bring me closer to home, closer to Canada and back with my family."

Boyle was previously married toZaynab Khadr, the sister offormer Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr.