ISLAMABAD (AP) – Afghanistan’s Taleban rulers have detained several British citizens and an American, including a former freelance television journalist who has been coming to Afghanistan for more than 40 years, both governments and a family member said.
A statement from the British government this week said there are a number of British nationals currently in Taleban custody. While the government refused to release their identities, Hassina Syed, the wife of Peter Jouvenal, a former freelance cameraman turned businessman, told The Associated Press, her husband was taken on December 13.
And United States (US) National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ that Washington was “actively working” to get the American released from Taleban custody. He refused to say more, citing the “sensitivity of it”.
The American detainee and at least four other British nationals in custody remain publicly unidentified.
The Taleban did not respond to requests for comment on the foreign nationals and on Jouvenal in particular.
The British Foreign Office said the detention of British nationals is being discussed with the Taleban.
“UK officials have raised their detention with the Taleban at every opportunity, including when a delegation travelled to Kabul last week.”
