The north american family of ex-hostages kidnapped 5 years in Pakistan, and not Afghanistan, according to the head of the CIA

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AFP

Thursday, 19 October 2017 21:15

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Thursday, 19 October 2017 21:15

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The american couple kidnapped by a group affiliated to the taliban in Afghanistan has been held hostage for five years in Pakistan until his release last week, said Thursday the head of the CIA Mike Pompeo.

This version contradicts that of the pakistani army, which claims to have released the couple Boyle and his three children on the basis of information from the u.s. indicating that they had just been transferred in Pakistan from Afghanistan.

“We had a great result last week, when we could bring four american citizens, who had been held for five years in Pakistan,” said Mike Pompeo during a conference in Washington.

The question of the time that the family has past on one side or the other of the border that separates Afghanistan from Pakistan is essential in the eyes of the american authorities. American Caitlan Coleman and her husband, canadian Joshua Boyle had been kidnapped in a remote region of Afghanistan in 2012. Their three children were born in captivity.

Washington suspects Pakistan of having links with the group the Haqqani network, the extremist affiliated with the taliban accused of having held hostage the family Boyle. She was released shortly before the visit next week of the head of the american diplomacy Rex Tillerson, who should by this opportunity to put pressure on Islamabad.

“The past seems to indicate that the expectations on the willingness of the Pakistanis to help us fight radical islamism should be fairly low. Our intelligence services indicate the same thing,” pointed out Mike Pompeo.

“I believe that we should have a real conversation with them about what they do and what they should rather do, as well as the american expectations on how they should behave”, he added.

The american president Donald Trump wants to convince afghan taliban that they have no chance of getting a military victory and should therefore attempt to negotiate a peace agreement with Kabul. But Mike Pompeo said on Thursday that there was no chance of this happening if the taliban fighters continued to enjoy a shelter on the side of pakistan to the border.