British self-styled 'danger tourist' captured by Taliban secret police

Miles Routledge in Afghanistan
Miles Routledge in Afghanistan

A British Youtuber and self-styled “danger tourist” is among three British men being held by the Taliban’s feared counter-intelligence unit in Kabul, it has emerged.

Miles Routledge, a 21-year-old from Birmingham who goes by ‘Lord Miles’, has over 140,000 followers on Twitter, where he brands himself as a person who will “go to the most dangerous places on Earth for fun.”

Two other Britons, charity medic Kevin Cornwell, 53, and a second unnamed man who manages a hotel in Kabul, are believed to have been held by Taliban secret police since January following a separate incident.

Mr Routledge was arrested on March 2, along with two Polish nationals named as Adrian Wojcik, 22, and Roman Bilski, 24, and is being held for further questioning, a senior European diplomatic source told The Telegraph.

A Taliban security officer confirmed the arrest of multiple foreigners last week to the Telegraph.

The official added that the group were found partaking in “suspicious activities” and were being held with the Taliban’s counter intelligence department in Kabul.

It is not the first time that Mr Routledge has visited Afghanistan. Last August, the blogger received widespread criticism for visiting Kabul during the Taliban’s ongoing takeover of Afghanistan.

Mr Routlledge was arrested on March 2, along with two Polish nationals
Mr Routlledge was arrested on March 2, along with two Polish nationals

He acquired a spot on a British Army evacuation flight to Dubai while thousands of Afghans who had worked alongside British troops in the country were left behind where they face ongoing targeting by the Taliban.

It is unclear why Mr Routledge, who studied physics at Loughborough university, again travelled to Afghanistan but it is believed he intended to shoot footage for his social media accounts.

Last August, Mr Routledge posted a video of him meeting with an alleged Taliban gunrunner in the city of Jalalabad after boasting of entering Afghanistan on a forged document. The video has over one million views on YouTube.

In the same footage, Mr Routledge is seen firing several automatic weapons with a Taliban fighter and a member of a local mafia, which he describes as “a lot of fun”.

Other videos on Mr Routledge’s channel show him attempting to sneak into the United States from Mexico and spending 48 hours homeless in New York City.

In one video, he wears mediaeval armour to visit Snake island off the coast of Brazil which is populated by thousands of vipers and where visitors are banned. However he failed to spot a single snake during the outing.

He also runs a Patreon pay-per-view account in which subscribers can pay between £3-19 to help fund Mr Routledge’s travels. In return, his fans receive behind-the-scenes content and a postcard and free item from Mr Routledge’s latest destination.

Mr Routledge’s friends initially wanted to keep his arrest private but are now said to be keen to raise his case publicly in an effort to expedite his release.

Mr Routledge’s friends initially wanted to keep his arrest private but are now said to be keen to raise his case publicly in an effort to expedite his release.
Mr Routledge’s friends initially wanted to keep his arrest private but are now said to be keen to raise his case publicly in an effort to expedite his release.

Scott Richards, from the non-profit Presidium Network, which is assisting the two Britons arrested in January, told Sky News that he believes they are in good health and being well treated.

But he told the broadcaster "there has been no meaningful contact" with the men to date. Mr Cornwell, 53, was reportedly arrested at his hotel by officers from the Taliban's General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) on 11 January.

According to Sky News, the medic is accused of having an illegal firearm in the safe in his room. His family say he had been granted a licence for the firearm.

Mr Richards said this was down to a "misunderstanding" and the licence may have become separated from the firearm during the search.
A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: “We are working hard to secure consular contact with British nationals detained in Afghanistan and we are supporting families.”