Joshua Boyle: what really happened to family held by Taliban?
Caitlan Coleman says husband abused her throughout five years in captivity

An American woman held hostage by the Taliban for five years says her husband beat and abused her throughout their ordeal.
Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, were abducted in October 2012 while backpacking through Afghanistan - a trip she now claims was organised by Boyle, whom she alleges did not inform her that they would be visiting the country until they arrived in Central Asia.
Coleman, who was pregnant at the time, eventually gave birth to three children in captivity. The family were moved between 19 hideouts in Afghanistan and Pakistan before finally being rescued in a Pakistani army raid in October 2017 and returned to Canada.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In July this year, it was reported that Coleman had returned to the US with the couple’s children, pending a Canadian court’s decision over custody of their two sons and daughter.
According to newly unsealed court documents obtained by the Ottawa Citizen, Coleman claims that Boyle “became increasingly erratic and irrational” towards her and eventually “instituted corporal punishment” for perceived misdeeds.
She alleges that her husband has a long-standing interest in “extremist ideologies and in the complete subservience of women”.
Boyle was previously married to a Muslim Canadian woman whose two brothers were once detainees at Guantanamo Bay, and has “made a series of contradictory claims about their reasons for traveling to Afghanistan”, ABC News reports.
In her affidavit, Coleman says the abuse became increasingly violent, with Boyle confining her to a shower stall for weeks at a time and once striking her “hard enough to break [her] cheekbone”. She also claims he threatened to set her on fire.
However, Boyle’s own account to the court paints a completely contradictory picture. He alleges that Coleman “assaulted him and neglected their children because of untreated mental health issues” during their five-year captivity, says the Ottawa Citizen.
For his part, Boyle says he looked after all three children single-handedly and “often went without food… to give more to his children or pregnant wife, and spent hours whittling toys and gifts for them with a spoon”.
The 34-year-old was arrested by Ottawa police in December last year and is currently on bail awaiting trial on charges including physical and sexual assault of a woman and physical assault of a child. He denies any wrongdoing.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
5 streetwise cartoons about defunding PBS
Cartoons Artists take on immigrant puppets, defense spending, and more
-
Dark chocolate macadamia cookies recipe
The Week Recommends These one-bowl cookies will melt in your mouth
-
Israel's plan to occupy Gaza
In Depth Operation Gideon's Chariots will see Israel sending thousands of troops into Gaza later this month to seize control of the strip
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designation
The Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across Syria
THE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weapons
The Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarray
In the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
-
Ukrainian election: who could replace Zelenskyy?
The Explainer Donald Trump's 'dictator' jibe raises pressure on Ukraine to the polls while the country is under martial law
-
Why Serbian protesters set off smoke bombs in parliament
THE EXPLAINER Ongoing anti-corruption protests erupted into full view this week as Serbian protesters threw the country's legislature into chaos
-
The resurgence of the Taliban in Pakistan
Under the Radar Islamabad blames Kabul for sheltering jihadi fighters terrorising Pakistan's borderlands