West News Wire: According to a UK nonprofit organization, three British men, one of whom is a charity worker, are being held in Taliban custody in Afghanistan, and the UK foreign ministry says it is trying to establish contact with them.
The foreign office said in a statement that it was supporting their families on Saturday.
According to The Presidium Network, it is helping two of the inmates, 53-year-old charity medic Kevin Cornwell and an unidentified man.
It also verified that the third man is 23-year-old Miles Routledge, a British tourist who attracted considerable attention and scorn on social media in August 2021 for visiting Afghanistan despite the Taliban’s resumption of power following the withdrawal of US-led foreign forces from the nation.
“We believe they are in good health and being well treated,” Scott Richards of the Presidium Network told UK-based Sky News. “We have no reason to believe they’ve been subject to any negative treatment such as torture, and we’re told that they are as good as can be expected in such circumstances.”
There had been “no meaningful contact” between authorities and the two men Presidium is assisting, he said, adding that their arrests came in relation to a misunderstanding over what he said was a licensed weapon in Cornwell’s room.
The two men being assisted by Presidium were detained by Taliban secret police on January 11.
It is unclear how long Routledge has been held for.
“Anyone travelling to dangerous parts of the world should take the utmost caution,” UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman told Sky News. “If they are going to do that, they should always act on the advice of the foreign office travel advice.”
“If there are risks to people’s safety, if they’re a British citizen abroad, then the UK government is going to do whatever it takes to ensure that they’re safe. The government is in negotiations and working hard to ensure people’s safety is upheld. ”Last year, the Taliban freed a veteran television cameraman and four other British nationals whom it had held for six months.
