Pakistani soldiers have freed a North American family of five who were being held hostage by the Afghan Taliban, Pakistan’s military says. They were rescued after a US tip-off during an operation near the Afghan border, the army said. The army did not name the family, but Canadian Joshua Boyle and his US wife Caitlan Coleman were kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012. They are known to have had children while in captivity. "Pak Army recovered five Western hostages including one Canadian, his US national wife and their three children from terrorist custody,” an army statement said. It added that US intelligence agencies had been tracking the family in Afghanistan, and reported that on 11 October they had moved across the border into the Kurram tribal district of Pakistan.

[Agencies]