This mobile app is helping Afghans navigate Kabul following the Taliban takeover

As the Taliban entered Kabul last month, the team behind the crowdsourced news alert app Ehtesab deserted their office in the city. But they continued their work of providing Afghans with critical information, such as which roads were congested and where outbreaks of violence had been reported.

Days later, when two suicide bombing explosions killed more than 70 people near Kabul's Hamid Karzai Airport as people frantically tried to evacuate, the startup used its contacts on the ground to confirm the twin attacks within minutes.

Ehtesab was created three years ago to provide real-time alerts and information about incidents in Kabul. The goal at the time was to keep residents engaged, bridge communication gaps between citizens and public officials, and hold government officials accountable. Like Citizen, an app in the United States known for real-time crime alerts, Ehtesab prompts locals to report incidents from around the city, including everything from faulty telecommunications to planned demonstrations. These reports are then verified by Ehtesab's team of security experts.