An Austrian is detained in Afghanistan after traveling to the country in May

2023-06-13 08:16:02

BERLIN (AP) — An Austrian man was being held in Afghanistan, where he traveled earlier this year, the Austrian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

The man traveled to Afghanistan in May and was detained there, as confirmed by the Ministry in an email following a consultation on the case. Austria has long advised once morest travel to Afghanistan, the ministry added.

Authorities did not identify the man or provide further details, citing privacy concerns, although they said they have been “actively seeking a solution” since being informed of the arrest and have been in regular contact with the family.

The Austrian newspaper Der Standard, which first reported on the case, said the man is a veteran far-right extremist in his 80s and co-founder of a minor far-right party outlawed in 1988, the National Democratic Party.

The man has been held for a few weeks, shortly following a far-right magazine published an article he wrote entitled “Holidays with the Taliban”, in which he gave a positive picture of life in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime. According to the newspaper, he is accused of espionage and Austrian neo-Nazis made his case public through Telegram channels.

The Taliban seized Afghanistan in August 2021, when US and NATO troops were in the final weeks of their withdrawal from the country following 20 years of war.

According to Der Standard, the detained Austrian – whom it identified only as Herbert F. – has traveled frequently to dangerous places and visited Afghanistan both in the 1980s and a few years ago, on a visit to Kurds fighting once morest the group State. Islamic in northern Syria.

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