Afghanistan Sees Nationwide Disruption of Mobile and Internet Services, Monitoring Groups Report

Residents and monitoring groups said Tuesday that internet and mobile phone services were down across Afghanistan, with no immediate explanation from the Taliban authorities.

The Taliban have previously voiced concerns over online pornography, and in recent weeks officials have cut fiber-optic connections in several provinces, citing “moral” reasons.

NetBlocks, a global internet observatory, reported that national connectivity had dropped to roughly 1% of normal levels. The group told Reuters by email that access was shut down in stages on Monday, with the final phase also affecting telephone services, which share infrastructure with the internet.

Private broadcaster TOLOnews, which had warned viewers of likely disruptions, said officials had ordered 3G and 4G mobile internet services to be phased out within a week, leaving only the older 2G network operational.

Cloudflare Radar, another global internet traffic monitor, noted that Kabul experienced the sharpest drop in connectivity, followed by the western city of Herat and the southern hub of Kandahar.

The clampdown comes amid increasingly restrictive edicts from the Taliban leadership in Kandahar. Earlier this month, authorities barred Afghan women working for the United Nations from entering its offices. Previously, women were banned from most employment opportunities, and girls were prohibited from attending high school.

The Taliban insist they respect women’s rights “as defined by Islamic law.”

Women’s rights activist Sanam Kabiri, who lives outside Afghanistan, said the group had already closed schools, universities, recreational venues, and sports facilities for women.

“The Taliban are using every tool they have to suppress people,” Kabiri said in a video statement to journalists. “What more do these ignorant men from the Middle Ages want from our oppressed people?”

With restrictions on leaving home for work, many Afghan women had turned to the internet for income, using it to work remotely. The shutdown threatens to cut off one of their last economic lifelines.

Meanwhile, the Taliban have also held recent talks with U.S. officials, particularly over American citizens detained in Afghanistan. On Sunday, the group released one of the detainees.