"Based on certain considerations, the authorities have detained four people: two British citizens holding Afghan papers, one person with Chinese and American nationality and their translator," Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry, told AFP.

"Efforts are underway to resolve this issue," he added.

Qani spoke shortly after Sarah Entwistle, in an interview with British media, called for her government to do "everything in their power" to secure the release of her parents, Peter and Barbie Reynolds, who had been running training programs in Afghanistan for years.

British media had reported their arrest, along with a Chinese-American woman and their Afghan translator, on February 1 in the province of Bamiyan, a major tourist attraction west of Kabul known for its giant Buddhas -- destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban.

Qani refused to confirm the identities of the detainees, or give further details on their condition or the reasons for their arrests. "Details will be released shortly," he said.

Entwistle and her three brothers had initially chosen not to involve the UK authorities "hoping to hear directly from the Taliban about why they'd arrested our parents", she told TimesRadio on Monday.

"Our parents have always sought to honour the Taliban, so we wanted to give them the opportunity to explain their reasons for this detention," she said.

"However, after more than three weeks of silence, we can no longer wait. We're 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," she added.

The British Foreign Office declined to comment on the couple's arrest.

- 'Outrageous' -

The Reynolds, who married in Kabul in 1970, remained in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in 2021 when the British embassy withdrew its staff.

The arrest on February 1 was apparently linked to the teaching of parenting skills to mothers over 30, according to The Sunday Times, which first reported the detention.

"My mother is 75 and my father almost 80 and (he) needs his heart medication after a mini-stroke," Entwistle told the newspaper.

"They were just trying to help the country they loved. The idea they are being held because they were teaching mothers with children is outrageous," she added.

The couple were reportedly arrested as they returned to their home in the central Bamiyan province.

In an open letter to the Taliban authorities quoted by the Sunday Times, Entwistle and her brothers pleaded for their parents to be released.

"We do not understand the reasons behind their arrest," they wrote.

"Our parents have consistently expressed their commitment to Afghanistan," the letter added.

They are not the first foreigners detained by the Taliban authorities.

A former Canadian soldier, David Lavery, was released at the end of January after more than two months in captivity, under a deal negotiated by Qatar.

A week earlier, two Americans held by the Taliban, Ryan Corbett and William McKenty, were freed in exchange for Afghan fighter Khan Mohammed, convicted of narco-terrorism in the United States.

Two other Americans, George Glezmann and Mahmood Habibi, are still being held in the country.

Taliban leaders swept back to power in 2021, ousting the US-backed government and implementing a strict interpretation of Islamic law, despite promises not to return to the brutality displayed when they ruled in the 1990s.

They have since imposed broad restrictions on women and girls, barring them from education beyond the age of 12 and squeezing them out of jobs and public life with rules the United Nations has labelled "gender apartheid".