Austrian national charged with espionage, detained in Afghanistan

An Austrian man who visited Afghanistan earlier this year is presently detained in the country, the Austrian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

The government verified in an email that the individual travelled to Afghanistan in May and was detained there. Austria has long recommended against visiting Afghanistan, the Ministry added. The details of the man’s identity and other information were not revealed but Austria did declare that it has been “actively seeking a solution” since learning of the arrest and has been in contact with the man’s family on a regular basis.

According to reports, the man was a veteran far-right extremist in the 80s and a co-founder of the National Democratic Party, a minor far-right organisation banned in 1988. He has been in detention for several weeks after a far-right journal published an article titled “Vacation with the Taliban” in which he provided a positive depiction of life in Afghanistan under Taliban control. He has been held for spying, and Austrian neo-Nazis have made his case public through Telegram channels.

The man, identified as Herbert F, has a history of visiting “dangerous places”, including Afghanistan in the 1980s and Kurdish forces fighting the ISIS group in northern Syria a few years ago.

The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, following the ouster of the previous government and the withdrawal of American forces.