A former BBC journalist and his team have been arrested in <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/us-news/2022/02/04/footage-shows-moment-of-kabul-airport-blast-during-us-military-withdrawal-from-afghanistan/" target="_blank">Kabul</a> while working for the United Nations. Andrew North, who worked for the BBC across the Middle East and Asia for 20 years, was working for the UN’s refugee agency “trying to help the people of Afghanistan” when he was held, former colleagues said. It is understood that he and another foreign journalist along with a number of local staff were arrested at the start of the week as they were gathering material for the UN's humanitarian work. The UN knows where they are being held and officials are working with a number of groups to try to secure their release. A member of a Taliban intelligence unit in Kabul told the <i>Washington Post</i> that "several" foreign citizens were arrested in Kabul on charges of working for western intelligence agencies. “Andrew North is working for the UN in Kabul. He is a former colleague and a respected journalist,” said Paul Danahar, the foreign editor of BBC News, in a tweet. “All inquiries about his situation, which his friends and colleagues are obviously concerned about, should be directed to the UN.” His detention was first revealed by Amrullah Saleh, a former vice president and leader of the exiled Afghan resistance. He claimed nine people from western countries have been kidnapped, including Mr North. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees confirmed two journalists on assignment with the agency and Afghans working with them had been detained in Kabul, but did not name those held. “We are doing our utmost to resolve the situation, in co-ordination with others,” the UNHCR said on Twitter. “We will make no further comment given the nature of the situation.” Mr North's partner, Natalia Antelava, who is also an ex-BBC journalist, thanked people for their messages of support and said she hoped his release could be secured. Mr North, an experienced journalist who has worked in 60 countries, was working as an independent reporter based in Tbilisi, Georgia, after leaving the corporation, his LinkedIn page says. His recent work reported on the Afghan conflict and how farmers who have returned to Helmand province are now sowing opium poppies using solar-powered irrigation pumps. The <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/asia/2022/01/11/taliban-holds-graduation-ceremony-for-500-fighters-in-afghanistan/" target="_blank">Taliban</a> administration's security and intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security, said it had no information on the matter. "We have no information about them, when and where they have disappeared, we haven't reached any information yet; we are trying to find information," said NDS spokesman Khalil Hamraz. The directorate was in touch with the interior ministry about the issue, he said. Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August, concerns have grown over a purge on dissent. The UN has repeatedly raised alarms over missing women's rights activists in recent weeks. Foreign nations have refused to recognise the Taliban-led administration but have stepped up engagement as they try to avert a humanitarian crisis stemming from an economy stalled by sanctions and a halt in development funding since the group took over.