Rescued Taliban hostage faces criminal charges in Canada

Canadian authorities this week arrested Joshua Boyle, the Canadian man held along with his wife and children by Taliban-linked militants for nearly five years, on 15 criminal charges. Court documents said the charges include eight counts of assault, two counts of sexual assault, two counts of unlawful confinement, and one count of forcing someone to take an antidepressant. The incidents related to the charges are all alleged to have happened since Boyle returned to Canada in October. Boyle also faces charges of uttering a death threat and misleading a police officer. On Oct. 11, Pakistani authorities rescued Boyle, his American wife Caitlan Coleman, and their three children from the Haqqani militant group following a tip from U.S. intelligence. The militants abducted the couple as they traveled in Afghanistan in 2012. All three children were born in captivity. In a statement to the Toronto Star, Coleman refused to comment on the specific charges but said she hoped her husband could find help and healing: “I can say that ultimately it is the strain and trauma he was forced to endure for so many years and the effects that that had on his mental state that is most culpable for this.”