Taliban Disables Telecommunication Networks in Farah

The Taliban insurgent group has ordered and threatened all telecommunication networks in Farah  province to disable their systems, officials confirmed Friday.

Provincial governor spokesman, Nasir Mehri, said private telecommunication networks have shut down their networks’ coverage in the province after the insurgents has threatened them.

Mehri added that local officials are trying to reactivate all halted networks.

A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, has also confirmed the blackout. But he did not explain reason for the move, warning the networks’ coverage will be down in the province until an unknown time.

The interruption of the telecommunication networks in the province has caused a lot of problems for the people.

In addition to Farah, reports emerged that the insurgent group has asked mobile phone companies to halt their network’s coverage in several other provinces including Ghazni and Kunduz in order to mitigate risks.

The report comes as with the U.S. new strategy for Afghanistan, the Afghan forces have intensified their late night operation and targeting the Taliban militants.

Earlier, the Taliban has said Afghan and U.S. forces use the network signals to locate the group’s fighters.

By: Hesamuddin Hesam & Khoshal Zaland