Taliban (Credit: AFP)
Taliban imposes nationwide internet, telecom blackout in Afghanistan
Afghanistan has entered what experts are calling a “total internet blackout,” after the Taliban government ordered a sweeping shutdown of telecommunications across the country. The move follows weeks of fibre-optic disruptions that had already left large parts of the population struggling to stay connected.
Independent monitoring group Netblocks confirmed the nationwide outage on Tuesday, noting that both mobile and fixed internet services had been cut, along with telephone lines. Satellite television broadcasts have also faced widespread interruptions.
International news agencies say their offices in Kabul have been cut off, with communication lines across the capital and other provinces severed. Despite the scale of the blackout, Taliban authorities have not provided an official explanation. A government spokesperson said only that the shutdown would remain “until further notice.”
Local broadcaster Tolo News urged its audience to rely on its social media platforms as it anticipated major disruptions to its TV and radio transmissions. At the same time, air travel has been hit. Flight-tracking service Flightradar24 reported at least eight cancelled departures and arrivals at Kabul International Airport on Tuesday.
Diplomats told the BBC the blackout threatens to destabilize Afghanistan’s fragile banking and e-commerce systems. Many Kabul residents said their fibre-optic connections collapsed around 5:00 PM on Monday, meaning the full impact would only be felt the following morning when businesses and financial institutions attempted to resume operations.
On Mastodon.social, Netblocks described the shutdown as a deliberate move, “Afghanistan is now in the midst of a total internet blackout as Taliban authorities move to implement morality measures, with multiple networks disconnected through the morning in a stepwise manner; telephone services are currently also impacted.”
The Taliban have suggested they are working on an alternative route for internet access but have not released any details.
