The Taliban has told the BBC it will endeavour to release two British nationals who have been arrested and held in Afghanistan “as soon as possible”.
Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife Barbie, 75, were arrested on 1 February while returning to their home in the country’s Bamiyan province.
An American national and an Afghan were also arrested alongside the couple, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior Affairs said.
The UK Foreign Office said on Monday it was supporting their family.
In a statement, Taliban official Abdul Mateen Qani said: “A series of considerations is being taken into account, and after evaluation, we will endeavour to release them as soon as possible.”
All three foreign nationals had Afghan passports and national ID cards, he added.
The reason for Mr and Mrs Reynolds’s arrest has not been confirmed.
The couple had been running training projects in Afghanistan for 18 years, including one that involved training mothers and children.
Their work had apparently been approved by the local authorities, despite the Taliban banning education for girls over the age of 12 and not allowing women to work.
The Taliban announced women would be banned from working for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in 2022. Last December, it said it would close any NGOs employing women.
The pair married in Kabul in 1970. They remained in Afghanistan after the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, which saw most westerners leave the country.
Their daughter, Sarah Entwistle, told the BBC she had not heard from her parents in more than two weeks.
They had communicated by text after the pair were initially arrested, but contact stopped after three days.
Ms Entwistle and her siblings wrote to the Taliban to plead for their parents’ release.
“We recognise that there have been instances where exchanges have been beneficial for your government and western nations,” they wrote.
“However, our parents have consistently expressed their commitment to Afghanistan, stating that they would rather sacrifice their lives than become part of ransom negotiations or be traded.”
On Monday, Ms Entwistle said they had wanted to give the Taliban an opportunity “to explain their reasons,” because Mr and Mrs Reynolds had “always sought to honour” the group.
But she said they could no longer wait, telling Times Radio: “We are now urgently calling on the British consulate to do everything in their power to get us answers and to put as much pressure as they can on the Taliban for their release”.
The UK shut its embassy in Kabul and withdrew its diplomats from the country after the Taliban returned to power.
The Foreign Office says support for British nationals in Afghanistan is therefore “severely limited” and advises against all travel to the country.
Additional reporting by Mahfouz Zubaide.