A man who was held hostage by a Taliban-linked group for five years has said he refused to believe his captors when they told him Donald Trump had become the US President.

Canadian Joshua Boyle, his American wife, Caitlan Coleman, and their children were completely isolated from the outside world while they were held by the Haqqani network in Afghanistan.

The pair were kidnapped in the mountainous Wardak province in October 2012 during a backpacking holiday through Asia while Mrs Coleman was heavily pregnant with their first child.

Their three children were born in captivity and the family endured horrendous treatment at the hands of the group before being freed in a dramatic rescue operation by Pakistani forces last week.

In one of his first interviews since his release, Mr Boyle said the family were starved of any information or entertainment during their years of captivity except for a slate and a piece of chalk.

When Mr Boyle pleaded for some reading materials to alleviate the boredom he said his kidnappers brought the family a pile of dirty washing.

However, while the group were making a proof-of-life video of the family, Mr Boyle said one of his captors told him the reality TV star, Donald Trump, had won the US presidency.