Afghans in Kabul were left without mobile and internet services as the Taliban ordered a nationwide shutdown. Image: Live Law.
(The Post News) – Afghanistan entered a second day of zero mobile and internet services on Tuesday following a nationwide blackout ordered by the Taliban administration against the country’s fiber-optic backbone. The cut-off shut down communication for 40 million Afghans, affecting banking, business, schooling, and the media.
The outage began late Monday, when mobile phone and internet connections collapsed across the country. Connectivity dropped to less than 1% of regular levels, reported watchdog group NetBlocks, the first total nationwide communications blackout since the Taliban seized power in 2021.
Life at a Standstill
With the Taliban shutting down the internet, Bazaar traders and merchants in Kabul said life came to a halt. “We are blind without mobiles and the internet,” said Najibullah, proprietor of a shop that is 42 years old. “Everything is relying on mobiles for our business. The deliveries are on mobiles. It’s a holiday; everyone is home. The market is frozen completely.”
A spokesman for the Taliban explained to AFP that “eight to nine thousand telecommunications pillars” had been severed at the behest of Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. The blackout, he said, would persist “until further notice.”
The Taliban have justified the action as part of an attempt to limit online “vice.” Balkh provincial authorities confirmed earlier this month that the ban had come directly from Akhundzada “to prevent immorality.”
Mahbob Shah Mahbob, a veteran Afghan reporter living in exile, said that the Taliban commanders are fearful of “pornographic material” and negative news regarding their regime internationally. “They are concerned with what their extremist regime is being regarded as and the bad publicity,” he said.
The ban on media has paralyzed the economy, which is mostly dependent on mobile payments and online business. The banking sector, customs, and commercial transactions across Afghanistan would be impacted, a government official warned.
Aid and diplomatic missions have also taken a beating. A UN source further opined that operations were now “severely impacted, reverting to radio communications and occasional satellite links.”
For ordinary Afghans, the shutdown of the internet has unravelled lifelines. Fahima, a young woman pursuing a degree at an online university, said, “Our last hope was online learning. Now that dream has been shattered.”
Teachers also have been driven offline. Zabi, who ran online English courses for several dozen students, said several missed worldwide tests when the connection was cut off. “It was devastating for them, and for me as their teacher,” he explained.
Media and Flights Disrupted
The blackout silenced Afghan media, with TOLO News, the Kabul television station, and overseas Afghan radio broadcasters detailing disrupted signals. Satellite television was also affected, with information from Flightradar24 showing numerous flights to and from Kabul cancelled.
AFP and AP international news wires lost contact with their Kabul bureaus late on Monday, while Afghan expatriate families said they could not reach relatives.
Human rights groups condemned the blackout as another step towards isolating Afghanistan. “The Taliban’s ban on the internet is taking Afghanistan to the edge,” said Habib Khan, Afghan Peace Watch founder. “A pariah government has isolated 40 million lives from the rest of the world with catastrophic implications, stifling daily life and strangling women most of all.”
Since taking control again in 2021, the Taliban has rolled back women’s rights, banned girls’ education, and suppressed opposition. Having now closed Afghanistan’s fiber-optic network, once hailed as a way to foreign markets and learning, the country is further cut off.
For families like Anas’, whose father is from Takhar province, the future is in doubt. His daughters, who relied on studying online, are now stuck at home. “Their last hope of studying is gone now,” he said. “To see my children helpless like that… that was the most difficult for me. Only God knows what will happen to them and me.”
About the Author
