raped wifeOttawa, Oct 14 (AFP) Freed Canadian hostage Joshua Boyleaccused his kidnappers of murdering his infant daughter andraping his wife during his family's years-long captivity bythe Haqqani network, a Taliban-affiliated group operating inAfghanistan and Pakistan.
Boyle leveled the accusations in a terse statement heread on his arrival in Toronto yesterday with his Americanwife, Caitlan Coleman, and three children, who were freed onWednesday by Pakistani troops.
He condemned the Haqqani network's "stupidity and evil ofauthorizing the murder of my infant daughter" in "retaliationfor my repeated refusal to accept an offer that the miscreantof the Haqqani network had made to me, and the stupidity andevil of the subsequent rape of my wife".
He said the rape was not the action of a lone guard, butwas aided by the captain of the guard and a Haqqani commanderhe identified as Abu Hajr.
The Haqqani group is headed by Sirajuddin Haqqani, who isalso the Afghan Taliban's deputy leader.
The faction has long been suspected of having links withPakistan's shadowy military establishment.
Providing few details, Boyle said the death of hisdaughter and his wife's rape occurred in 2014.
That was two years after he and Coleman, then "heavilypregnant," were kidnapped in a remote Taliban-controlled areaof Afghanistan.
He said they were in Afghanistan as "pilgrims" helpingpoor villagers when they were captured.
The three children who survived the ordeal were all bornin captivity.
"Obviously it will be of incredible importance to myfamily to build a secure sanctuary to call a home, to focus onedification and to regain some portion of the childhood theyhave lost," he said.
The Canadian government welcomed the family's arrival.
"Today, we join the Boyle family in rejoicing over thelong-awaited return to Canada of their loved ones," theforeign ministry said in a statement.
"Canada has been actively engaged on Mr. Boyle's case atall levels, and we will continue to support him and his familynow that they have returned," it said, asking that thefamily's privacy be respected.
The Pakistani forces that freed the family said theyacted on information received from the US intelligenceservices.
In his statement in Toronto, Boyle denied he had refuseda return trip aboard a US military aircraft.
He chose to fly back from Islamabad to Canada oncommercial airlines via London.
In 2009, Boyle was married to Zaynab Khadr, the sister ofOmar Khadr, a Canadian captured in battle in 2002 as ateenager in Afghanistan and held at the US prison facility atGuantanamo Bay before being turned over to Canada and releasedin 2015.
Boyle was active in the campaign to win Khadr's releasefrom Guantanamo and transfer to Canada. (AFP)NSA.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.