Non-profit says charity medic, traveler and unnamed third man are being ‘treated well’ as UK Foreign Office seeks to contact them.
Three British men, including a charity worker, are being held in Taliban detention in Afghanistan, a British non-profit organization says, and the British Foreign Office says it is working to contact them.
In a statement released on Saturday, the State Department said it supported their families.
The Presidium Network said it is assisting two of the detainees, charity doctor Kevin Cornwell, 53, and an unnamed man.
It also confirmed that the third man is Miles Routledge, 23, a British holidaymaker who in August 2021 drew a lot of attention and criticism on social media for traveling to Afghanistan despite the return of the Taliban after US-led foreign forces broke out had withdrawn from the country.
“We believe they are in good health and being treated well,” Scott Richards of the Presidium Network told Sky News in the UK. “We have no reason to believe that they have been subject to any adverse treatment, such as torture, and we have been told they are as good as can be expected in such circumstances.”
There had been “no meaningful contact” between authorities and the two men the Presidency assists, he said, adding that their arrests were related to a misunderstanding of what he believed was an authorized weapon in Cornwell’s room.
The two men assisted by the Presidium were detained by Taliban secret police on January 11.
It is unclear how long Routledge has been held.
“Anyone traveling to dangerous parts of the world should exercise extreme caution,” British Home Secretary Suella Braverman told Sky News. “If they are going to do that, they must always act on the advice of the foreign travel consultancy.”
“If there are risks to people’s safety, if they are a British citizen abroad, then the British government will do everything they can to make sure they are safe. The government is negotiating and working hard to ensure people’s safety.”
Last year, the Taliban released an experienced television cameraman and four other British nationals they had held for six months.
Al Jazeera reached out to Taliban officials for comment, but had not received a response as of time of publication.