MALE, 03 Septermber 2021, (TON): The Maldivian couple and their four children who were incarcerated in a prison in Afghanistan after getting convicted on terror charges have been freed, reports the family.

A family member told media that they were freed after a Taliban court overturned their sentences.

The family member said “we have submitted a letter to the government in an effort to bring them back to Maldives.”

The family said “they are facing difficulties in bringing them back to Maldives due to the volatile situation in Afghanistan.”

Ali Shafiu, 32, H. Moonlight Valley, K. Male’ and his wife Shahudha Hameed, 33, Maalilyge, GDh. Gadhdhoo, travelled with their four children to Afghanistan in 2018. They took a flight to Sri Lanka on June 23, 2018. They left Sri Lanka for Pakistan, and made their way across the border to Afghanistan in October 2018.

Maldivian police were informed by the Interpol that the family was arrested from Afghan's Nangarhar province on November 11, 2018. A team of Maldivian police officers travelled to Afghanistan to visit the family in collaboration with Afghan authorities in February 2019.