Taliban bans smartphones for civil servants, military

• Violators face harsh punishment; phones seized and smashed.
• Reports suggest the ban is expanding to civilians, medics, and women.
• Move follows leaks of state documents and viral protest footage.

Taliban has initiated a harsh domestic crackdown on digital access, enforcing a comprehensive ban on the possession and use of smartphones among all government personnel.

The mandate, issued by the Taliban’s military courts and supreme leadership, threatens strict legal penalties and the immediate destruction of any touchscreen devices found in the possession of state employees.

The decree applies universally across the administrative structure, explicitly covering "high rank, low rank, general mujahideen, or service staff."

According to internal directives, any exemptions to the policy require a rare, written decree signed directly by the Taliban’s reclusive supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada.

The enforcement has manifested rapidly in public squares and government offices.

In video footage circulating on regional networks, Taliban officials can be seen reading the formal banning order aloud from mobile devices moments before subordinates begin physically breaking and smashing confiscated smartphones.

Leaks, protests, push for info control

Geopolitical analysts observe that the smartphone prohibition is heavily motivated by the regime's growing inability to contain domestic unrest and manage state secrecy.

A primary catalyst for the sudden enforcement follows rare street demonstrations that erupted in the western city of Herat. The protests sparked after the Taliban arrested numerous local women and girls for allegedly wearing "improper hijab."

During the ensuing chaos, Taliban security forces opened fire on the crowds, killing at least two people. While the regime initially issued blanket denials regarding the lethal use of force, smuggled smartphone video recorded by onlookers quickly leaked onto global social networks, deeply embarrassing the leadership.

Beyond containing civil unrest, the Taliban is struggling with an epidemic of internal administrative leaks.

Bureaucrats and rank-and-file fighters have frequently used smartphones to photograph confidential state documents and record private meetings, leaking strategic information to the public before it can be finalized by leadership.

Furthermore, officials complain that internet access has severely eroded productivity, noting that newly bureaucratized fighters frequently spend hours scrolling through social media platforms like X instead of executing state duties.

"If anyone uses one, their mobile phone will be smashed as well as legal and sharia punishment will be imposed on the violator," the military court directive states.

Fears of nationwide blackout

While the text of the decree specifically targets state payroll employees, field reports from various provinces indicate that the ban is being applied far more broadly.

In several municipalities, local commanders have unilaterally expanded the enforcement on an ad-hoc basis, forcing women, schoolteachers, university students, and medical professionals to surrender their personal devices.

In Herat, state employees revealed that compliance teams have been conducting spot checks for months.

"About two months ago they said not to bring your mobile phones to the office," an anonymous civil servant recounted. "Me and a few colleagues didn’t take it seriously. They confiscated them, and after we made a fuss about it, they smashed our phones."

The worker estimated the financial loss at roughly 8,000 afghanis ($95).

Human rights watchdogs fear the state-level ban is a prelude to an absolute, population-wide digital blockade designed to isolate Afghan citizens entirely from the global internet.

The move follows an experimental two-day nationwide internet blackout engineered by authorities, which paralyzed the private banking sector and disrupted commercial aviation before being hastily rolled back.

Analysts warn that the universal destruction of smartphones within government offices signals that the regime is willing to trade economic functionality for total information control.