The British Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that five British citizens who were detained by the Taliban have been released. The ministry added that the individuals had no roles in the government’s work in Afghanistan and travelled to the country despite warnings.
“This was a mistake”, said one of the ministry’s spokespersons.
“On behalf of the families of the British nationals, we express their apologies for any breach of Afghan culture, customs or laws, and offer their assurance of future good conduct,” the UK ministry announced.
This comes close on the heels of the announcement made by Hugo Shorter, the Chargé d’Affaires at the UK Mission to Afghanistan working from Doha, in which he said that “the UK does not support anyone, including Afghan nationals, seeking to achieve political change through violence, or any activity inciting violence for political purposes, in Afghanistan, and will not allow UK soil to be used to plan or prepare it, and we strongly discourage others from doing so”. Shorter added that there is no alternative than to “engage pragmatically” with the current administration in Afghanistan.
