Afghanistan is within the midst of a communications blackout, simply weeks after Taliban authorities started severing fibre optic connections in a number of provinces, in what seems to be the Islamist regime’s newest crackdown.
“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 cybersecurity and web governance watchdog Netblocks mentioned Monday in a submit on X.
TOPSHOT – A Taliban flag flutters close to telecom tools put in over a rooftop offering web companies overlooking Hazrat-e-Ali Shrine, or Blue Mosque, in Mazar-i-Sharif on September 16, 2025, because the Taliban administration banned fibre-optic web in Balkh province.
ATIF ARYAN/AFP through Getty Photographs
The Taliban’s management has not publicly commented on the blackout. However on Friday, Haji Zahid, an area Taliban spokesperson within the northern province of Balkh, mentioned in a submit on X that the ban had been ordered by their chief, Haibatullah Akhundzada, “to prevent immoral activities.”
Afghan tv channel TOLO mentioned Monday that its broadcast had been disrupted by the communications crackdown.
The U.S. and most different Western nations have refused to acknowledge the Taliban as Afghanistan’s reliable authorities because it retook management in 2021, following the Biden administration’s chaotic withdrawal from the nation.
The nation’s Taliban rulers have dramatically rolled again the rights of girls and ladies, detained journalists, and cracked down on public dissent since retaking energy.
The nation faces one of many world’s worst humanitarian crises, based on Human Rights Watch, exacerbated by donor governments’ assist cuts and the return of 1.9 million refugees expelled from Iran and Pakistan. Afghanistan can be nonetheless recovering from a devastating earthquake that killed practically 3,000 individuals earlier this month.
“For Afghanistan’s youth, it is definitely another costly fallback if it continues. It closes the door on online education, it severely handicaps business owners who communicate with clients,” Farhadi mentioned. “It is a deliberate decision to lead society to a blind spot.”
