According to reports, the Taliban are holding three British men, including a charity medic and a self-described “danger tourist,” hostage in Afghanistan.
According to The Mail on Sunday, the Taliban’s secret police detained Kevin Cornwell, a 53-year-old charity medic, and another British national who runs a hotel for relief workers in Kabul in January.
The other British national detained is 23-year-old Miles Routledge, who was rescued from Afghanistan by British military personnel less than two years ago during the Kabul airlift after arriving there on a “holiday” and being entangled in the chaos of the Taliban takeover.
The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), according to The Guardian, is working to establish consular contact with the arrested British people and is helping their families.
“We are working hard to gain consular contact with British nationals detained in Afghanistan and we are supporting families,” an FCDO official said.
In the report, a source claimed that the UK government interacts with the Taliban in a practical manner over issues such as consular matters, human rights, counterterrorism, and humanitarian aid.
Five British nationals, including former BBC cameraman and expert on Afghanistan, Peter Jouvenal, who had been held captive by the Taliban for almost six months, were freed in June.
The five were reportedly detained individually, and according to British sources, nothing was given in exchange for their release other than an apology from them.
The FCDO still advises against visiting Afghanistan due to the security dangers, which include the possibility of being detained.
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