Taliban insurgents have succeed in shutting down a large chunk of the mobile phone network in Afghanistan.

The Taliban told mobile phone operators that if they did not shut down overnight, they would blow them up. They have since attacked and destroyed around 10 mobile phone towers as a warning. They want the networks off at night because troops use the signals to track them down.

Residents in parts of southern Afghanistan reported their mobile telephones no longer worked at night and an official from one of the companies confirmed its network had been shut down from dusk until dawn in some areas of the country.