Google locks Afghan government accounts amid fears of Taliban seeking emails

According to Reuters, Google has blocked an unspecified number of accounts related to Afghan government officials as fears intensify over the digital paper trail left by former officials and their international partners.

There have been several reports in media highlighting concerns on how biometric and Afghan payroll databases might be exploited by Taliban leaders following their takeover of Kabul.

In a statement on Friday, Alphabet Inc's Google (GOOGL.O) stopped short of confirming that Afghan government accounts were being locked down, saying that the “company is monitoring the situation in Afghanistan and taking temporary actions to secure relevant accounts."

An employee of former Afghan government told Reuters on the condition of anonymity that the Taliban are seeking to acquire former officials' emails.

"If I do so, then they will get access to the data and official communications of the previous ministry leadership," the employee said.

As per records, more than two dozen of Afghan government institutions were using Google's servers to communicate via emails, including the ministries of finance, higher education, industry and mines.