INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Five British men held by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) have been released, the United Kingdom&s Foreign Office said in a
statement Monday.The UK said in its statement: &We welcome and appreciate the release by the current administration of Afghanistan of 5
British nationals who were detained in Afghanistan.These British nationals had no role in the UK Government&s work in Afghanistan and
travelled to Afghanistan against the UK Government&s travel advice
This was a mistake.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 Government regrets this episode,& the statement read.IEA leaders have not
yet commented officially. While the official charges against the detainees were never made public, an IEA intelligence officer told the
Washington Post that most were arrested on suspicion of espionage or involvement in human trafficking. The IEA officer said the release of
the detainees was good news and that &we are not aiming to detain foreign nationals.& According to the Washington Post, the senior IEA
member said the foreign nationals &were detained for breaching the law and violating Afghan culture.& The post UK govt publicly apologizes
to IEA for conduct of 5 freed detainees first appeared on Ariana News.
