KABUL - Afghanistan on Monday overturned a temporary ban on WhatsApp and Telegram following outcry among social media users who had branded the move an attack on free speech. Internet providers had been ordered by the industry regulator to block the popular messaging apps from November 1 to November 20 to "resolve technical problems", the communications ministry said last week. But at a meeting on Monday Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah decided "there will be no ban on Whatsapp & Telegram", Abdullah tweeted.

A statement issued by the presidential palace said Afghanistan's constitution guaranteed the right to freedom of speech and "the National Unity government is committed to protecting those values".