‘It felt like we had gone back centuries’: Afghans express relief after internet restored

For 48 hours Afghanistan had been cut off from mobile and internet services in a Taliban-imposed shutdown

Just before nightfall on Wednesday, the near-deserted streets of Afghanistan's capital suddenly filled with people - mobile phones everywhere had pinged back to life.

With phones pressed to their ears or tightly gripped in their hands, Afghans poured on to the streets of Kabul to check if others were also online.