Taliban detain UNHCR staff, 2 foreign journalists in Kabul

The Taliban have detained two international journalists on project with the U.N. refugee company and numerous its Afghan workers working within the nation’s capital, UNHCR mentioned Friday.

The event in Kabul comes as President Joe Biden was anticipated to challenge an government order that will permit U.S. monetary establishments to facilitate entry to $3.5 billion of belongings for Afghan help.

“Two journalists on project with UNHCR and Afghan nationals working with them have been detained in Kabul,” the refugee company tweeted. “We’re doing our utmost to resolve the scenario, in coordination with others.”

The Geneva-based group refused to remark additional. The Taliban to this point haven’t replied to queries for details about the detained.

One of many detained is Andrew North, a former British Broadcasting Company journalist who has labored extensively in Afghanistan. His spouse, Natalia Antelava issued a plea on Twitter for his launch.

“Andrew was in Kabul working for the UNHCR @Refugees attempting to assist the folks of Afghanistan,” Antelava mentioned. “We’re extraordinarily involved for his security & name on anybody with affect to assist safe his launch.”

The Committee to Defend Journalist condemned the detentions and referred to as for the fast launch of the journalists.

“The Taliban should instantly launch Andrew North and all different journalists held for his or her work, and stop harassing and detaining members of the press,” the CPJ assertion mentioned, noting they had been detained on Tuesday.

The Taliban swept over Afghanistan, capturing Kabul and far of the nation in mid-August, as U.S. and NATO troops had been within the last, chaotic weeks of their pullout following the 20-year intervention.

“The Taliban’s detention of two journalists on project with the U.N. refugee company is a tragic reflection of the general decline of press freedom and rising assaults on journalists underneath Taliban rule,” Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, mentioned in Washington.

The worldwide group has been cautious of formally recognizing Afghanistan’s new rulers, involved the Taliban would impose the identical harsh rule as they did once they had been beforehand in energy within the Nineteen Nineties.

Within the wake of the takeover, worldwide funding was suspended and billions of {dollars} in Afghanistan’s belongings overseas, principally in the US, had been frozen and monetary help to the federal government was largely halted, pushing the Afghan economic system additional right into a tailspin.