Five British citizens who were detained by the Taliban in Afghanistan have been released, the Foreign Office has said on Monday, according to the BBC.
Among those released is former BBC cameraman Peter Jouvenal.
Jouvenal was among a number of men arrested by the Taliban last year and held on unspecified charges.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the five people will “soon be reunited with their families”.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said the British nationals detained by the Taliban had no role in the UK government’s work in Afghanistan.
A spokesman said the five had travelled to Afghanistan against the UK government’s travel advice, adding: “This was a mistake.”
Jouvenal – who also ran a hostel in Kabul for a time as well as working for the BBC in Afghanistan – was held for more than six months.
They also thanked the FCDO staff who “worked tirelessly” for his release and requested privacy for Jouvenal to reconnect with his wife and family and recover from his “long ordeal”.
On Sunday, a diplomat at the UK Mission to Afghanistan in Doha issued a statement seeking to reassure the Afghan authorities that the UK “does not support anyone, including Afghan nationals, seeking to achieve political change through violence”, and promising that it would “not allow UK soil to be used to plan or prepare” violence.
UNI
