KABUL (AFP) – US forces have arrested three employees of the Al-Jazeera pan-Arab satellite TV channel for filming near a US base in the Afghan capital Kabul, said bureau chief Samar Allawi.

Correspondent Waliullah Shaheen, cameraman Nasir Hashimi and driver Mahmood Agha were filming the removal of concrete block barriers which had been installed outside all military bases and offices of foreigners for protection.

“After the declaration of the Afghan interior ministry that all the cement blocks will be removed, our team went to film the removal and they were detained by US forces,” Allawi told AFP Sunday.

“We have not been given a clear answer so far about why they have been detained,” he said.

A US military spokesman, Lieutenant Mike Cody, said security forces on contract to the coalition detained the trio, took control of their equipment and passed them on to Afghan police.

He said the three were held after they were seen “filming security features in the vicinity of Camp Eggers in Kabul.”

Afghan police were not immediately available for comment.