Political | Process

Six of the Westerners are British citizens, with one reportedly being a U.S. permanent resident.

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• Taliban authorities are holding at least nine foreigners in custody in Kabul including one American and several British citizens according to relatives and other people familiar with their situation, inflaming tensions with the West at a time when Afghanistan desperately needs international aid.

• Among those arrested are two journalists: a British reporter and an Irish photographer who were in Kabul on assignment for the United Nations’ refugee agency, UNHCR. They were detained this week in Kabul, along with an Afghan journalist and an Afghan driver with whom they were working.

• The U.K. Foreign Office is reportedly giving support to families of its detained citizens, and the U.K. government has told the Taliban it won’t negotiate on anything other than humanitarian matters until the British citizens are released.

• The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes.

• “We are extremely concerned for his safety & call on anyone with influence to help secure his release,” journalist Natalia Antelava tweeted of her husband, British freelance journalist Andrew North, who is among those in custody.