Afghanistan's Supreme Leader Bans Civil Servants from Using Smartphones

Afghanistan’s Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has issued a decree banning the use of smartphones by civil servants, the Afghanistan International news portal reported on Monday, citing a Ministry of Justice document. Senior military court officials have been instructed to ensure the full implementation of the order and to provide guarantees of compliance to the country’s top leadership. A special checklist has reportedly been created to record the name, position, place of duty, mobile operator, and telephone number of each individual under supervision. The report added that three days earlier, a directive from the Afghan Ministry of Education had prohibited students from bringing smartphones to schools and religious schools.