An unspecified number of British citizens have been detained in Afghanistan in separate incidents during the last two months, the UK authorities informed Saturday. 

In a statement to news agency AFP, the foreign ministry said, “We are providing support to the families of a number of British men who have been detained in Afghanistan.”

“UK officials have raised their detention with the Taliban at every opportunity, including when a delegation travelled to Kabul this week,” it added.

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The exact number still remains unclear. According to a CNN report, it is estimated that at least seven British and one American have been arrested by the Taliban over the last two months.

The UK government’s statement comes a day after two foreign journalists were released by the Taliban. 

A February 11 tweet by former vice president of Afghanistan, Amrullah Saleh stated that “nine citizens of Western countries have been kidnapped, amongst them Andrew North of BBC & Peter Juvenal, owner of Gandomak Restaurant”.

Both North and Jouvenal are British citizens who have worked for the BBC. The latter’s family and friends confirmed his detention to CNN, “Peter Jouvenal’s friends are deeply concerned for his safety following his detention by the authorities in Afghanistan in early December. A British/German dual-national, Peter has been travelling to Afghanistan for more than forty years, as freelance cameraman, businessman and investor,” his family said in a statement.

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North, on the other hand, was in Afghanistan for an assignment for the UN refugee agency in the country. The UN agency had tweeted regarding his arrest, “We are doing our utmost to resolve the situation, in coordination with others. We will make no further comment given the nature of the situation.”

He is one of the two journalists to have been released. 

A spokesperson for the Taliban government, Zabihullah Mujahid, said that they had been detained because they did not possess valid identity proof documents, according to an AFP report. 

The arrests have been seen as an escalated attack on Westerners by the Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021.

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Emily Horne, spokesperson for the US National Security Council, said in a statement, “It’s completely unacceptable for the Taliban to hold hostage human beings, and completely antithetical to their purported aspiration to be viewed as a legitimate actor on the world stage. Through direct and indirect communications with the Taliban, we have urged the release of any and all individuals who are unjustly being held by the Taliban and their proxies. Due to privacy, safety, and operational concerns, we have no further comment at this time,” reported CNN.