Aug 20 (Reuters) – Two U.N. staff members detained by authorities in Afghanistan were released on Thursday in good health, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told a press briefing.
The two Afghan staff members of the U.N.’s Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) were detained in the western city of Herat on August 9, following a string of detentions by Taliban authorities.
Dujarric said the circumstances of the staffers’ detention and what they had been accused of “remains very unclear, and we’re trying to get more details.”
“We’re just delighted that they’ve been released, they’re in good health, and they face apparently no more judicial legal issues,” he said.
As the U.N.’s political mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA is involved in human rights monitoring and data gathering. The Taliban have frequently criticized its reports.
The detentions became public days before the Taliban celebrated the fifth anniversary of their return to power.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; editing by Susan Heavey and Hugh Lawson)
