About a week after Afghan journalist Bashir Hatif was released from Bagram Prison, his young son, Abdullah Hatif, has died under what has been described as “mysterious” circumstances. The Taliban handed his body over to his family today.
Sources close to the Hatif family said that Abdullah Hatif went missing last Monday, August 26, from Maiwand Road in Kabul. According to the sources, his phone number was also switched off after his disappearance.
The sources added that the Taliban handed Abdullah Hatif’s body over to his family today, and his funeral has also been held.
There is still no reliable information regarding the circumstances or cause of Abdullah Hatif’s death.
Hatif’s neighbors said they were told that Abdullah Hatif had died of natural causes, but they said they were “suspicious” of the claim.
The Afghanistan Journalists Center announced about a week ago that journalist Bashir Hatif had been released from Bagram Prison after serving a one-year sentence and had reunited with his family in Kabul.
According to the center, a Taliban military court sentenced Bashir Hatif to one year in prison on charges of propaganda against the group.
Taliban intelligence and the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice arrested Bashir Hatif on August 2, 2025, in Kabul, along with Shakib Ahmad Nazari, a journalist with Japan’s NTV television network, and Abuzar Sarparli, the managing director of Tolo News Agency.
Shakib Ahmad Nazari and Abuzar Sarparli remain in detention.
Bashir Hatif is a veteran Afghan journalist who has worked with several Afghan media outlets. He is also the founder and executive director of the Center for Journalists’ Communication and Training and has served as a member of the leadership board of the Federation of Afghan Journalists’ Organizations.
Writer:Saeed Sameer
