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Family fears for U.S. hostage Ryan Corbett’s health in Taliban prison after “deeply disturbing” phone call
The family of Ryan Corbett, an American humanitarian who has been imprisoned without charge by Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers since August 2022, said a brief, “disturbing” phone call from him this week has them increasingly concerned about his declining mental and physical health.
Anna Corbett, Ryan’s wife, said in a statement that she and their three children received a “deeply disturbing 12-minute call from Ryan” on Tuesday, “in which Ryan exhibited a significantly deteriorated mental state. His captors have told him that he is forgotten by his country, and it seems he now believes them.”
The family, who live in New York, said Ryan told them on the call that he’d suffered from “high fevers last week that went undiagnosed.”
Anna and the couple’s three children, 18-year-old Ketsia, 16-year-old Miriam and 13-year-old Caleb, have had just five short phone calls from Ryan, totalling 44 minutes, since he was detained in Afghanistan by the Taliban in August 2022, a year after the Islamic extremists retook control over the country and the U.S.-led international military coalition withdrew.
Courtesy Corbett family)
Taliban intelligence officials told CBS News in December that Ryan, 40, was accused of anti-state activities, a common accusation made against Westerners. Corbett has been determined to be “wrongfully detained” by the U.S. State Department, indicating the government’s assessment that the charges against him are baseless.
“I’m really scared,” Anna told CBS News on Wednesday. “Something could happen to Ryan and nobody would even know. He’s often isolated for long periods of time, and with reports of seizures, fainting, discolored extremities and now deep despair, I worry every day that he may not make it home alive.”
“I want the president to realize that the lack of action to bring Ryan home could have disastrous consequences,” she added, referring to President Biden.
Qatar, which acts as the United States’ Protecting Power for Afghanistan in lieu of formal diplomatic relations between Washington and Kabul, has sent officials to visit Ryan in person twice, first in January 2023, and again in December.
In an exclusive TV interview in December, Anna told CBS News that Ryan had been suffering from a constant ringing in his ears and deteriorating vision, as well as seizures during his imprisonment by the Islamist militants almost 600 days ago. She also said a childhood accident had left Ryan with a collapsed lung, making him more prone to pneumonia while being held “in a damp and cold basement” since his imprisonment.
A Taliban intelligence official told CBS News in December that Ryan’s health was “fine,” that he was being held in a “guesthouse” with daily access to sunlight, goat and sheep meat, newspapers, magazines and a small gym. CBS News has not verified those claims.
Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban’s appointed envoy to the United Nations, also told CBS News: “We don’t torture or mistreat anyone in custody.”
A State Department spokesperson told CBS News the government was aware of Ryan’s latest phone call to his family and was “concerned about the well-being of Americans detained in Afghanistan and actively working for their release.”
“U.S. officials have continuously pressed, including in meetings with Taliban representatives, for the immediate and unconditional release of Americans detained in Afghanistan, noting that these detentions are a significant obstacle to positive engagement,” the spokesperson said, adding that “for privacy, safety, and operational reasons, we won’t speak publicly to their cases.”
Margaret Brennan and Olivia Gazis contributed to this report.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.