AFP
Mobile phone services were restored across swathes of Taliban-contested areas of Afghanistan over the weekend as a partial truce with the militants held for a second day. The Taliban, US and Afghan forces are currently overseeing a week-long "reduction in violence" that kicked off on Saturday. The commitment has seen fighting drop dramatically and is set to pave the way for an American withdrawal deal to be signed later this week. There have been reports of small clashes in rural areas, but no major attacks that have long defined the conflict have erupted, allowing telecoms operators to restore networks in provinces like Kunduz, Badghis. "Around 730 cell towers have restarted," said Naqeebullah Sailab, vice chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of Afghanistan. "There are towers which started operating after almost five years." Two separate officials with knowledge of the country's telecoms industry in northern Afghanistan also confirmed that mobile networks were being restored in insurgent-hit areas.
Mobile phone services were restored across swathes of Taliban-contested areas of Afghanistan over the weekend as a partial truce with the militants held for a second day. The Taliban, US and Afghan forces are currently overseeing a week-long "reduction in violence" that kicked off on Saturday. The commitment has seen fighting drop dramatically and is set to pave the way for an American withdrawal deal to be signed later this week. There have been reports of small clashes in rural areas, but no major attacks that have long defined the conflict have erupted, allowing telecoms operators to restore networks in provinces like Kunduz, Badghis. "Around 730 cell towers have restarted," said Naqeebullah Sailab, vice chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of Afghanistan. "There are towers which started operating after almost five years." Two separate officials with knowledge of the country's telecoms industry in northern Afghanistan also confirmed that mobile networks were being restored in insurgent-hit areas.