Taliban forces have arrested the principal of a girls’ school in central Afghanistan after she refused to hand over her mobile phone following a ban on government employees using smartphones, according to local sources in Daikundi Province.

Members of the Taliban threatened children at the school with weapons demanding they reveal where teachers had hidden their smartphones, one source told Rukhshana Media.

The ban on the use of smartphones by government employees took effect on June 16, according to media reports.

Videos have appeared online seemingly showing members of the Taliban smashing up their smartphones in support of the ban.

The sources in Daikundi Province said Taliban forces arrested the principal of Bandar Girls’ High School in Sangtakht wa Bandar district in the north of the province on Monday. They named the principal as Tayyeba Hafezi and said she was released later that evening.

The smartphone ban is reportedly based on a directive issued by Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s supreme leader.

The BBC reported on June 16 that it had obtained letters from the Taliban government stating that the use of smartphones for all military, civilian and service employees was “absolutely prohibited, whether in the workplace or at home”.

A Taliban government employee was quoted by the BBC as saying that the decision was made because workers were spending too much time on their phones instead of addressing people’s problems.

But the BBC said some people believe the ban is more about preventing the disclosure of government documents.