Mobile and data networks return across Afghanistan

KABUL: Mobile networks returned to several provinces across Afghanistan, including the capital Kabul, on Wednesday, 48 hours after the Taliban authorities shut down telecommunications.

AFP journalists reported that signals were also available from several mobile operators in Kandahar, Khost, Ghazni, and Herat provinces.

Confusion gripped the country on Monday night when mobile phone service and the internet went down without warning.

Most businesses ground to a halt, including banks, post offices and markets, while hospitals had to operate without access to patient records.

The massive shutdown comes weeks after the government began shutting down high-speed internet connections to some provinces to prevent "immorality", on the orders of the Taliban's shadowy supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.