Miles Routledge, a well-known “danger tourist” who garnered an online following for travelling to conflict zones, is being held captive by the Taliban, according to the British non-profit Presidium Network.
Routledge, who goes by the moniker “Lord Miles” and has amassed more than 150,000 Twitter followers, was apparently detained by the Taliban at some point in the past month and a half. The 23-year-old’s last tweet was sent on Feb. 27, and he tweeted from Dubai on Feb. 24 stating he was “in transit.”
In Dubai! Big buildings! Soy face pic.twitter.com/NyZ1Tfavx0
— Lord Miles (@real_lord_miles) February 24, 2023
British Home Secretary Suella Braverman suggested the British government is in negotiation with the Taliban about Routledge and two other British nationals who were detained in January over a dispute about a firearms license.
Presidium Network co-founder Scott Richards said that the men had been allowed to speak with their families, unscripted, for a minute to a minute-and-a-half. He added that the men are being treated fairly. (RELATED: US Diplomat Deletes Tweets About #BlackGirlMagic In Afghanistan, Black History Month)
“If I can get a message to those who are holding him, I just want to ask them to tell him he has my love and support,” Routledge’s mother, Susan, told the Daily Mail.
This isn’t the first time Routledge has encountered the Taliban in Afghanistan. He previously traveled to the country in 2021 as the militant group was in the process of taking over Kabul following the U.S. military withdrawal from the country. He was evacuated by British Armed Forces in August of 2021, after claiming to have seen dead bodies on the streets and been shielded from gunfire at a NATO safehouse, according to Yahoo News.
“Lord Miles” has also traveled to Ukraine, Kazakhstan, South Sudan, and Brazil’s Snake Island.