Pakistan Army recovers Canadian-American family abducted in Afghanistan

A kidnapped U.S.-Canadian couple and their three children born in captivity have been freed in Pakistan, nearly five years after the couple was abducted in neighboring Afghanistan, Pakistani and U.S. officials said on Thursday.

Pakistani troops, operating on intelligence provided by the United States, rescued Caitlan Coleman, her husband Joshua Boyle and their children after locating them in the mountainous Kurram Valley region that borders Afghanistan.

The Pakistani military said that the couple and their three ­children were found “through an ­intelligence-based operation” Wednesday in coordination with U.S. agencies tracking the hostages along the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The five kidnappers were shot dead, and Boyle was injured by shrapnel, his father told the Star. The family are in Pakistan and are preparing to return to North America in the coming days.

Parents of rescued Canadian-American family thank Pakistan Army

The parents of the Canadian citizen Joshua Boyle expressed their ‘profound’ thanks to the Pakistani Army for rescuing their son, his American wife and their three children in an operation.

In a video statement, Patrick and Linda Boyle expressed their gratefulness to Pakistani, American, Afghan and Canadian governments.

“We relate to the High Commissioner of Pakistan here in Canada our profound thanks for the courageous Pakistani soldiers who risked their lives and got all five out safely in the rescue [operation],” said Patrick.

Trump hails recovery of abducted family as ‘positive moment’ in Pak-US relations

U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been highly critical of Islamabad, praised Pakistan’s cooperation with the U.S. government over the freeing of the hostages, saying it was “a positive moment” for U.S.-Pakistan relations.

“This is a positive moment for our country’s relationship with Pakistan.”

The Pakistan government’s cooperation is a sign that “it is honouring America’s wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region”, Trump said in a White House statement.

“We hope to see this type of cooperation and teamwork in helping secure the release of remaining hostages and in our future joint counter-terrorism operations,” he maintained.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the US expresses “deep gratitude” to Pakistan.