(BBC News) Three British nationals are being held in custody by the Taliban in Afghanistan, a humanitarian organization has told the BBC.
Scott Richards from the Presidium Network named one of the men as Kevin Cornwell, 53, from Middlesbrough.
Richards said he and a man who has not been named were arrested on January 11. He confirmed a third British man was taken into custody on a different date.
The Foreign Office said it was working hard to contact the men.
The Presidium Network is a UK-based non-profit organization that provides support to communities in crisis.
Richards confirmed the organization is representing Cornwell, a paramedic who works for a charity, and the second man but not the third.
Richards said while there were “no official charges as such,” the two men’s detention was understood to be over a weapon in a safe in Cornwell’s room, which he said was stored with a licence issued by the Afghan interior ministry.
“That license is missing,” he said, adding: “But we have taken several statements from witnesses who have seen the licence and affirm its existence.”
