Homegrown app helping Kabul residents steer clear of danger

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Enlarge / Taliban fighters stand guard in a vehicle along the roadside in Kabul on August 16, 2021. (credit: Getty Images)

As Kabul fell on Sunday, 20 young Afghan tech workers tracked the Taliban’s advance, broadcasting real-time reports of gunfire, explosions, and traffic jams across the city through a new app.

Called Ehtesab, the app relies on ground-level reports from a vetted team of users to a private WhatsApp group.

The reports, which are then verified by the app’s fact checkers, range from security incidents, such as fires, gunshots and bombings, to road closures and traffic problems to electricity cuts. Sara Wahedi, the 26-year-old founder of the app, said the team tried to confirm the reports with the interior ministry, “when it used to exist.”

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