The Taliban government in Afghanistan has ordered a nationwide suspension of internet and mobile phone service, following weeks of cutting fibre-optic internet connections in different provinces.According to internet watchdog NetBlocks, the country is experiencing a “total internet blackout.” The group reported that the disruption appears to be the most extensive and coordinated shutdown of telecom services in Afghanistan since the Taliban regained control in 2021. The blackout has raised concerns about the return of earlier restrictions from the Taliban’s first rule, when they banned television, satellite dishes, and other forms of mass communication in what they described as a campaign against immorality.The government had already started reducing high-speed internet access in some provinces earlier this month. Officials said this was done to prevent “vice,” following orders from the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada.
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By Monday night, mobile phone signals and internet access steadily weakened across the country until overall connectivity dropped to less than one percent of normal activity, NetBlocks reported.It is the first time since the Taliban seized power in 2021, after years of insurgency, that communication services across the nation have been cut off. Since then, the group has enforced a strict version of Islamic law and imposed several restrictions.Residents expressed concern over the impact of the blackout on daily life and business. “We are blind without phones and internet,” Najibullah, a 42-year-old shopkeeper in Kabul, was quoted as saying by the news agency AFP. “All our business relies on mobiles. The deliveries are with mobiles. It’s like a holiday, everyone is at home. The market is totally frozen.”The Taliban have not issued an official explanation for the nationwide suspension. A government official, however, said that “eight to nine thousand telecommunications pillars” would be switched off and added that the blackout would remain in place “until further notice.”Just last year, in 2024, the Taliban had described Afghanistan’s fibre-optic project as a key priority. The 9,350-kilometre (5,800-mile) network, developed mostly during governments backed by the United States, was promoted as a way to connect the country with the outside world and support economic recovery.Earlier in September, Taliban representatives warned that they planned to cut off internet access nationwide “to prevent immoral activities.” They did not specify what was considered immoral under their order.Haji Zaid, the governor of Balkh province, said in a statement that “an alternative system will be established within the country for essential needs.” He did not clarify what this system would include or how it would function.
