Afghanistan plunges into total telecom blackout as Taliban cuts internet

The Taliban government in Afghanistan has mandated a nationwide telecommunications shutdown, weeks after initiating the severing of high-speed fibre-optic internet connections to counter what they label “immorality.”

The internet monitoring group Netblocks confirmed that the country now faces a “total internet blackout,” which has also severely disrupted mobile internet and satellite TV.

International news agencies immediately reported losing contact with their Kabul offices.

Since reclaiming control in 2021, the Taliban have implemented various restrictions based on their strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law. A Taliban official announced the telecom blackout would persist indefinitely. Tolo News, a local private channel, asked its audience to follow its social media for updates, anticipating disruptions to its broadcast networks.

Additionally, local reports indicate that flights from Kabul airport have been disrupted, with live flight-tracking website Flightradar24 recording the cancellation of at least eight scheduled arrivals or departures on Tuesday.

Several Kabul residents told the BBC that their fibre-optic internet failed late Monday afternoon, around 5 pm local time. Consequently, many people won’t fully register the impact until Tuesday morning when banking and business services typically resume. Fibre-optic cables are essential for transmitting data quickly for much of the world’s internet.

In a post on social network Mastodon.social, Netblocks said:

“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”.

Post by @netblocks@mastodon.social

View on Mastodon

For weeks, people in various provinces had complained about slow or non-existent connectivity. Although the Taliban previously mentioned creating an alternative internet route, they offered no specifics.

Hamid Haidari, the former editor-in-chief of Afghan news channel 1TV, commented that the shutdown left “loneliness enveloped the entire country,” adding that Afghanistan had “officially taken first place in the competition with North Korea for [internet] disconnection” on X.

Mariam Solaimankhil, a former Afghan parliamentarian based in the US, also wrote on X, “The silence online without Afghan voices from inside Afghanistan is deafening.”

This sweeping communication ban is the latest in a string of bans since the Taliban’s return.

Earlier this month, they removed books authored by women from university syllabi, part of a new ban that also forbids teaching on human rights and sexual harassment. Women and girls are especially affected, being barred from education past age 12, with even midwifery courses quietly halted in late 2024. The Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021 shortly after the withdrawal of US and international forces.