RASC News Agency: Reports from the central prison of the Taliban group in Herat province indicate that basic mobile phones inside the prison are being bought and sold for prices ranging from three to 30,000 Kabuli Rupees. A local source in Herat province, speaking anonymously to RASC News Agency on Friday, May 17, stated that strict restrictions imposed by the Taliban group within the prison have prevented ordinary and smartphones from entering the prison blocks.
The source continues to explain that this situation has resulted in the prices of ordinary and smartphones skyrocketing to up to 30,000 Kabuli Rupees within the central prison of the Taliban group in Herat. While simple mobile phones are sold outside the prison for 500 to 1,000 Kabuli Rupees, inside the Taliban group’s prison, this price has increased two to threefold. Due to the group’s restrictions, prisoners secretly purchase them.
Additionally, the source reveals that Taliban members sell these mobile phones to prisoners at inflated prices. According to the source’s information, Taliban security forces overseeing the prison blocks in Herat province exploit the opportunity to procure these phones outside the prison and then sell them to prisoners at exorbitant prices.
However, another source in western Afghanistan informed RASC News Agency that the Taliban group, on one hand, restricts prisoners’ access to smartphones while, on the other hand, orchestrates the sale of basic and smartphones at inflated prices to prisoners in Herat province. This source elaborates that Taliban officials profit substantially from the sale of basic and smartphones.
The source highlights that only prisoners with high incomes inside the prison have access to these phones. Moreover, some observers in western Afghanistan have expressed concerns about the consequences of prisoners’ access to mobile phones for society. Baqer Halimi, an observer in western Afghanistan, informed RASC that during the Republic government, prisoners’ access to smartphones inside the prison was a societal concern.
Furthermore, he asserts that presently, prisoners’ access to mobile phones can facilitate the planning and execution of terrorist attacks from within the prison. However, Taliban officials in Herat province have denied these allegations.
