Numbers” British citizens were detained in Afghanistan, the British government said Saturday, added that it had caused this problem with the country’s Taliban authority.
Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for AFP came a day after the Taliban released two detained overseas journalists, including the former BBC correspondent.
We provide support to the family of a number of British men who have been detained in Afghanistan,” said the ministry, without determining how many English citizens were detained and by whom.
UK officials have raised their detention with the Taliban on every occasion, including when a delegation traveled to Kabul this week.”
The British delegation was led by Hugo shorter – Head of England’s mission to Afghanistan but based in Qatar – Fly to Kabul to meet Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi earlier this week.
Corntern said he had discussed the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, and human rights violations, with Taliban officials during his trip to the country.
On Friday, Western media reports said at least six British citizens were detained in Afghanistan, including former BBC correspondent Andrew North, who was released that day.
The Taliban authority did not comment when contacted by AFP.
Also among British citizens detained are Peter Jouvenal, which has been held since early December, a statement issued by his friends.
A journalist turned an entrepreneur, Jouvenal was also a German citizen and married an Afghan woman.
He might have been “detained because of an error” when he was in Afghanistan to discuss investment in the country’s mining industry, the statement said.
He was held at no cost, and without the freedom to contact his family or his lawyer,” he said, adding that Jouvenal had been a cameraman for CNN interviews with the founder of Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden in 1997 in Afghanistan.
Before his arrest, he worked openly and often held a meeting with senior Taliban officials. “
On Friday, the Taliban released northern and other foreign journalists after both of them were detained during the task for the UN refugee body in Afghanistan.
It was not clear when they were detained but the agency said it was “relieved” that both of them and their Afghan colleagues were free.
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said they had been detained because they did not have a valid identity card and document.
Because they seized power in August, the Taliban had taken action against differences of opinion, forcibly spreading women’s protests, holding back criticism of the regime and often beat Afghanistan journalists.
