Afghanistan shuts down chat apps WhatsApp and Telegram

The Afghan government has shut down the communication applications WhatsApp and Telegram for 20 days, an official confirmed on Friday.

A spokesman from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), Najib Nangyal, said the move was due to "complaints about low performance."

The ministry decided to order internet service providers to block the apps, Nagnyal said.

"MTN and Salaam telecom already shut down WhatsApp and Telegram, and the others will follow", said the government spokesman.

On its Facebook page, the ministry stated that it wants to introduce "new technology" to help prevent service disruptions.

However, a New York Times reporter tweeted that ministry sources confirmed the country's spy service, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), had in fact ordered the apps to be shut down.

A spokesman for the NDS, Hamid Fazli, denied any involvement in the government's decision.

The Afghan government may have an interest in blocking WhatsApp and Telegram, as these are primary channels of communication for the Afghan Taliban.

Over the past two years, the Taliban have retaken dozens of the country's roughly 400 districts. Over the past few months alone, they have killed hundreds of security forces and civilians.