Mohibullah Jalili, host of 1TV's current affairs program, said he was detained for hours on Friday night in PD15 of Kabul and was beaten. He said the reason for his detention is unclear.

Jalili told TOLOnews that armed men stopped his car at a checkpoint in Kabul on Friday night and detained him.

“When I asked for the reason for my detention, they told me, 'I understand that you are a journalist and that you are the ones who have ruined this homeland,' and they said, 'Tell me, which country do you work for?'” Jalili said.

“It is very cruel to act like this toward journalists. My uncle was not in the military and had no personal enmity with anyone,” said Shafiq, a relative.

1TV confirmed Mohibullah Jalili’s detention, and media outlets expressed concern that the situation would continue.

“We are very concerned and have shared this issue with the officials of the Islamic Emirate. We are waiting for a clear response as soon as possible,” said Edris Farooqi, managing director of 1TV.

“We ask the Islamic Emirate to form the Commission on Media Violation (CMV). Any media employee or journalist ... should be investigated from a specific legal address, which is the Commission on Media Violation (CMV),” said Masroor Lutfi, head of the Afghanistan National Journalists' Union (ANJU).

Meanwhile, the Kabul Police Command said they have started an investigation.

“He was beaten by armed individuals in PD15, the police command was not aware of the issues, we set up a delegation to meet closely with Jalili Sahib, but we have not yet received a positive response from him,” said Khalid Zadran, spokesman for the Kabul Police Command.

Based on figures of media-supporting institutions, in the last seven months nearly 140 incidents of harm and harassment of journalists and media workers have been recorded.