US-Canadian couple were held in Pakistan for five years: CIA chief

CIA chief Mike Pompeo said today the US-Canadian couple who were kidnapped by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network in Afghanistan and later freed by Pakistani Army were held inside Pakistan for five years contradictingclaims from Pakistani officials who said they were rescued shortly after entering Pakistan from Afghanistan.

American Caitlan Campbell, her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle and their three children who were born in captivity were freed by the Pakistan Army following five years as hostages of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network.

Pakistan troops had said they were instrumental in freeing the couple from Taliban-linked Haqqani network. In a statement, the Pakistan Army had said the couple were rescued after a car chase.

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"The couple had been held for five years inside Pakistan," the CIA chief said while speaking during a function in Washington at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies.

The kidnappers, however, managed to escape. Later, Major General Asif Ghafoor, military spokesman for Pakistan's army told NBC News that the vehicle's driver and another militant had escaped to a nearby refugee camp.

The family's rescue was hailed by US President Donald Trump as a "positive moment" for US-Pakistan relations.

Trump, in a statement, had said the release of the hostages indicates Pakistan was acquiescing to "America's wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region".