Pakistan says 5 Western hostages held by Taliban are freed

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan's military says soldiers have recovered five Western hostages held by the Taliban for years.

Pakistan's army did not name those held, only saying it worked with US intelligence officials to track down the hostages and free them after discovering they had been brought into Pakistan.

However, two army officials who spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday identified the hostages as Canadian Joshua Boyle, his American wife Caitlan Coleman and their children who were kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012. They spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release the information.

Caitlan Coleman had told her family she gave birth to two children in captivity.