Taliban militants blow up telecom tower in Afghanistan

Kandahar: Taliban militants blew up a telecom tower in southern Afghanistan on Friday following a warning to phone companies to shut down the towers at night or face attack.

The militants fear US and other foreign troops are using mobile phone signals to track insurgents and launch attacks against them.

A Taliban spokesman on Monday said militants would blow up towers across Afghanistan if the companies did not switch off their signals overnight.

Insurgents carried out the threat, destroying a tower along the main highway in the Zhari district of Kandahar province, said Niaz Mohammad Serhadi, the top government official in Zhari.