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Who is Andrew North? Ex- BBC journo kidnapped by Taliban with eight other foreigners

The war correspondent has been working as an independent journalist and with the UN inside Afghanistan

Former BBC journalist Andrew North has reportedly been kidnapped by the Taliban in Kabul along with eight other hostages, according to sources. The war correspondent has been working as an independent journalist and with the UN inside Afghanistan.

The terrorist-ruled country's former Vice President Amrullah Saleh said that nine people from western countries were taken by the group in the last couple of months, one of them being the reputed ex-BBC journalist. The Taliban regime cemented its power last year after President Joe Biden's chaotic withdrawal of US troops followed by other Western forces from Kabul.

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"Due to no media, no reporting by citizens, and a suffocating atmosphere corruption, crime, and atrocities aren't well exposed," Saleh tweeted. "As an example, nine citizens of western countries have been kidnapped amongst them Andrew North of BBC & Peter Juvenal owner of Gandomak Restaurant." He added, "Talibans are liars."

In a statement to The Mirror, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) confirmed that two journalists were among those detained in Kabul and that they were working to "resolve the issue." The claims were also confirmed by Afghanistan media. "Former BBC journalist Andrew North has been kidnapped by the Taliban," one journalist for Afghanistan International shared. "Sources confirmed to AFIntlBrk that the number of foreigners kidnapped by the Taliban has reached 9." Meanwhile, a UNHCR spokesman said, "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. We will make no further comment given the nature of the situation." That said, the Taliban have not commented on the alleged kidnapping at the time of publication.

Who is Andrew North?

Andrew North is a journalist and author who has covered Afghanistan for over two decades, including his reportage on the Taliban takeover of the war-torn nation. He was previously based in the country as a war correspondent for the BBC and his work has featured in several reputed publications including The Economist, Nikkei Asia, Air Mail, New Lines, Foreign Affairs, Quartz, Tortoise, and The Guardian. North has also extensively reported on other Asian and Middle Eastern countries, having been based in Baghdad, Delhi, and Beirut. He was reporting from the ground in Iraq when Saddam Hussein was still in power, before covering the 2003 western invasion and the subsequent Iraqi rebellion. Meanwhile, he has also covered conflicts in Lebanon, Libya, Georgia, and Kosovo. North is known to use drawings in some of his reporting and spoke on the role of art in journalists at Perugia in 2019.

North described his trip to several Afghan provinces as well as meeting with Taliban leaders in a recent article posted on his personal website. He said the ground realities of life in Afghanistan were "more complex" than the simplified news reports portrayed. "The group once dubbed “Islamic Maoists” has not been quite as ruthless as many feared — so far," he explained at the time. "That came through clearly during several weeks in the fall I spent traveling around Afghanistan, meeting various Taliban figures and seeing the results in daily life. It all adds to a sense of malaise, with an ominous feeling of worse to come." The news of North's abduction along with eight others comes after British diplomats met with prominent Taliban members to discuss the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.