Afghan govt staff abandon smartphones

KABUL:

Government workers in different parts of Afghanistan have started switching off their smartphones, following an order imposed Wednesday that they told AFP came from Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.

A letter announcing the ban on smartphones for all government employees started circulating on social media last week under the emblem of the Supreme Court, which has not responded to AFP’s requests to comment.

“All the heads of departments in their respective provinces are advised to inform their staff, higher-ranking or lower-ranking, that using smartphones is strictly banned effective 17 June,” said the letter.

It referred to all employees of the military and civilian departments, mentioning that exemptions could only be granted by the supreme leader.

As of Wednesday afternoon, multiple central government departments were still publishing information through their WhatsApp groups.

Two spokesmen for the Afghan government did not respond to AFP’s requests to comment on the decision.

In Ghazni province, located between the capital Kabul and the seat of the supreme leader, Kandahar, government employees started signing off from their smartphones on Tuesday evening.

“It has been decided that from Wednesday, the use of smartphones inside all offices in Ghazni province is prohibited,” Irfan Andarh, an official from the mines and petroleum department, wrote in a WhatsApp group seen by AFP.

Citing the supreme leader’s decision, he wrote that employees would be available “via telephone calls and email”.

A municipal worker in Ghazni, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said they had been warned that anyone who uses a smartphone would be fired and face legal action.

- ‘Truly heartbreaking’ -

In remote Badakhshan, in northeastern Afghanistan, an employee of the provincial information department said the penalty for breaking the rule was six months in prison. AFP