KEY POINTS
- Taliban orders nationwide shutdown of fibre-optic internet on leader Hibatullah Akhundzada’s directive.
- NetBlocks reports national connectivity collapsed to below 1% of normal levels.
- Blackout disrupts mobile and fixed-line services, crippling communications.
- Banks, customs, businesses, and aid agencies warn of severe operational paralysis.
KABUL, Afghanistan: Afghanistan was plunged into a near-total digital blackout on Monday after Taliban authorities ordered the suspension of fibre-optic internet services nationwide, crippling communications and isolating the country from the outside world.
Telecom industry sources, cited by Afghanistan International, said that the Taliban-run Afghanistan Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ATRA) instructed internet providers on 29 September to disconnect fibre services across all provinces on the verbal orders of supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.
“When company officials asked ATRA representatives what authority this action was based on, they were told it was a verbal order from Hibatullah and must be implemented,” one industry participant was quoted as saying by Afghanistan International.
Officials from the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Finance and the Taliban’s central bank reportedly travelled to Kandahar to appeal against the decision, warning it would cripple government operations.
But sources, cited by Afghanistan International, said Akhundzada dismissed their concerns, arguing that “during Mullah Omar’s rule, there was no internet, yet affairs progressed smoothly”.
Watchdog confirms blackout
Independent monitoring group NetBlocks said national internet connectivity had collapsed to less than 1 percent of normal levels.
“We’re now observing national connectivity at 14 percent of ordinary levels,” it initially reported, later updating the figure to below 1 percent. The watchdog said the shutdown “appears consistent with the intentional disconnection of service”.
AFP reported it lost mobile contact with its bureau in Kabul around 6:15 pm (1315 GMT), as well as with correspondents in Herat and Kandahar. “A nationwide telecoms blackout is now in effect,” NetBlocks confirmed.
Because telephone services in Afghanistan often rely on fibre networks, both fixed-line and mobile connections have also been severely disrupted.
“Physically pulling the plug on fibre internet would therefore also shut down mobile and fixed-line telephone services,” NetBlocks stated as quoted by AFP.
Impact on critical services
Industry officials warned the shutdown would paralyse essential sectors, including banking, customs and government services, all of which rely on fibre links. Businesses and aid organisations also reported losing contact with staff inside Afghanistan.
Residents, cited by KabulNow.com, said that fibre services vanished on Monday, followed by mobile data outages as signal towers went offline. International calls into Afghanistan have become impossible, the outlet reported, with journalists abroad unable to reach contacts in Kabul, Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif and Uruzgan.
Previous restrictions
The Taliban had previously cut fibre internet in several provinces, citing the need to “prevent vice”. On 16 September, Balkh provincial spokesman Attaullah Zaid said fibre connections were banned on the leader’s orders, promising “alternative options” would be introduced.
In 2024, Kabul had promoted the country’s 9,350-kilometre fibre network, largely built under former US-backed governments, as a priority project to connect Afghanistan with the world and spur economic growth.
Since seizing power in 2021, Taliban authorities have steadily imposed tighter controls in line with their interpretation of Islamic law, including sweeping restrictions on media, civil society and now digital communications.
