Sources from Kabul have informed Afghanistan International that journalist Bashir Hatif had been detained by the Taliban’s intelligence agency on Thursday and "released him after six hours of insults and humiliation”.

Hatif had previously criticised the Taliban's treatment of the media in a television interview.

He has been actively defending journalists' rights within Afghanistan for the past two and a half years.

According to the sources, Taliban intelligence, responsible for overseeing and controlling media activities, was involved in the detention of this journalist rights advocate on Wednesday.

Sources stated that Hatif was subjected to "humiliating" treatment during his detention.

Hatif is currently a board member of Afghanistan’s Journalists Organisations and Media Federation. According to sources, this federation has faced pressure from the Taliban in the past two months for hosting programmes in support of female journalists.