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Google locks Taliban out of Afghan government emails

Afghan ministries of finance, industry, higher education, and mines, including the President’s office, had used Google’s servers.

• September 4, 2021

Google has carried out a temporary lockdown on some Afghan government email accounts, according to a Reuters report.

The tech giant said the lockdown was due to security concerns connected to the insurgent group accessing sensitive information left by the former administration. 

In a statement on Friday, Google said it was “taking temporary actions to secure relevant accounts.”

The report states that two dozen Afghan government bodies had used Google’s servers to handle official emails, including the ministries of finance, industry, higher education, and mines. The office of the President also made use of Google’s services. 

Despite the Taliban saying it would take over peacefully, there have been protests across the city over women’s right to work and continued evacuations by the U.S. government. 

Last month, the World Bank announced that it would be freezing payments for its projects in Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban takeover.

“We have paused disbursements in our operations in Afghanistan, and we are closely monitoring and assessing the situation in line with our internal policies and procedures,” a World Bank spokesperson said.

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