N American couple, children seen in Taliban video

AN AMERICAN-CANADIAN couple held hostage by the Taliban have appeared in a video for the first time with their two children born in captivity, pleading with President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump to secure their release.

Canadian Joshua Boyle and his American wife Caitlan Coleman had two sons after being kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012 during a backpacking trip.

In the four-minute video shared by the SITE Intelligence group, the couple were shown with their two young sons sitting on their laps.

“We have waited since 2012 for somebody to understand our problems,” Coleman was shown saying in the video as she appealed to both Obama and Trump to rescue her family.

It was not clear if Coleman, who indicated the video was recorded on December 3, was reading from a script.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said he could not immediately comment on the latest video when contacted by AFP.

There was also no immediate reaction from the US State Department or the Afghan government.

Earlier this year, Caitlan’s parents James and Lyn Coleman, who live in Pennsylvania, appealed to the Taliban to release the couple and their two young children.

The Colemans last saw their daughter in July 2012, when she set off for Russia on a hiking trip with Boyle that took them through Central Asia and ultimately into war-torn Afghanistan.

The couple told Circa News that they got a letter from Caitlan last November proving that she and Boyle were still alive, and announcing that she had given birth to a second son.

The couple were also seen in a video emailed to her parents in 2013 in which they asked the US government and their families to secure their release.

The Colemans made the video public after Bowe Bergdahl, a US Army sergeant held captive for five years in Afghanistan, was freed in a prisoner swap.