On Monday evening, internet and telephone communications were cut off across Afghanistan . The entire country was left in darkness, with millions of women and girls living under the Taliban losing their last connection to the outside world.

Like countless Afghans in the diaspora, I spent hours trying to contact my colleagues and relatives back home. That night, I sent a message to a Signal group of more than two dozen aspiring women journalists from across Afghanistan who had participated in our eight-month online journalism training at Zan Times . I asked if anyone was online. No reply.

One of these women in Herat had been investigating the case of a 14-year-old girl who was at risk of child and forced marriage. While shopping with her parents, a Taliban soldier had taken her fa

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