Notorious ‘danger tourist’ among three Brits held by the Taliban in Afghanistan | UK | News
The Foreign Office is working hard to secure contact with three British men, including a notorious “danger tourist”, who are being held by the Taliban.
Miles Routledge, from Birmingham, is among the trio of Brits in the custody of the Islamic fundamentalist regime. Mr Routledge is a thrill-seeking traveller who tries to visit the most dangerous places in the world. He was evacuated from the country during the fall of Kabul in August 2021.
One of the other two men has been named as charity medic Kevin Cornwell. Another UK national who manages a hotel in Kabul has been detained, the Mirror reports.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson said: “We are working hard to secure consular contact with British nationals detained in Afghanistan and we are supporting families.”
On Mr Routlegde’s Twitter account pictures were posted of him in Dubai in February with the last post on the account being on February 27. His profile states “I go to the most dangerous places on Earth for fun!” before listing destinations such as Ukraine, South Sudan and “shooting w/ Taliban”.
It’s understood fellow captive Mr Cornwell was arrested by the Taliban General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) who are holding the three men, one of whom is yet to be named, at an undisclosed location.
Non-profit organisation the Presidium Network is assisting two of the men, said to be charity medic Kevin Cornwell and the second unnamed man, according to Sky News.
The news outlet said the two men are believed to have been held by Taliban secret police since January.
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Scott Richards, from Presidium Network, told Sky: “To our knowledge and awareness, we do believe they are in good health and being well treated.
“We have no reason to believe they’ve been subject to any negative treatment such as torture and we’re told that they are as good as can be expected in such circumstances.”
Mr Richards said there has been “no meaningful contact” between authorities and the two men Presidium is assisting.
Mr Routledge sparked controversy in 2021 when said he was on holiday in Afghanistan when the Taliban swept into power after the chaotic Allied withdrawal.
He said at the time: “Got Evacuated at 4ish (it’s 2am now) with 100 or so other civilians, couldn’t message as there were cars emitting signals that would set off bombs, it blocked my airpods from connecting so I think it blocked all wifi/data.”
In June 2022 five other British nationals were released after spending months in a Taliban jail. At the time then Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tweeted: “Pleased the UK has secured the release of 5 British nationals detained in Afghanistan. They will soon be reunited with their families. I am grateful for the hard work of British diplomats to secure this outcome.”
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