Two foreign journalists on assignment for UN detained in Kabul

Two international journalists who were on an assignment for the UN refugee agency have been detained in the Afghan capital, the UNHCR said.

The detentions come nearly six months after the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan following a lightning offensive that ousted the former Western-backed government.

"Two journalists on assignment with UNHCR and Afghan nationals working with them have been detained in Kabul. We are doing our utmost to resolve the situation, in coordination with others," the UNHCR tweeted.

One of the journalists is Andrew North, a British former BBC correspondent who has covered Afghanistan for about two decades and regularly travelled to the war-ravaged country to report on its deteriorating humanitarian crisis.

"Andrew was in Kabul working for the UNHCR, trying to help the people of Afghanistan," his wife Natalia Antelava tweeted.

"We are extremely concerned for his safety & call on anyone with influence to help secure his release."

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the authorities were looking into the matter.

"We have received information about this and are trying to confirm whether they have been detained or not," Mujahid said.

Since the Taliban seized power, the United Nations has been focussing on how to coordinate and provide essential humanitarian assistance to millions of impoverished people across the country.

News of the detentions comes as a British delegation led by Hugo Shorter, the head of the UK's mission to Afghanistan, currently based in Qatar, flew to Kabul to meet with foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Thursday.

Shorter said he has discussed the humanitarian crisis as well as human rights abuses with the Taliban officials.