Afghanistan is experiencing major internet outages after the Taliban government imposed restrictions on fiber optic lines across several provinces, reports The Guardian.
According to NetBlocks, an organization monitoring cybersecurity and internet governance, the national connectivity level has plummeted to 1%. NetBlocks indicates that this incident appears to be a deliberate service shutdown. Phone communication in the country is also at risk, as it largely relies on the same fiber optic lines.
Representatives of the organization state that finding a way to cut off internet access while maintaining phone services may prove to be quite challenging.
The Taliban began tightening internet control in early September, and since then, connectivity has been extremely slow or unstable in many regions. On September 16, the spokesperson for Balkh province, Ataullah Zaeed, announced that internet services in the region were completely banned by order of the leadership "to prevent sinful actions".
Similar restrictions have been noted in the provinces of Badakhshan and Takhar in the north, as well as in Kandahar, Helmand, Nangarhar, and Urozgan in the south.
Back in 2024, the Kabul authorities referred to the 9,350-kilometer fiber optic network, mostly built with U.S. support, as a priority for economic development and global integration. However, the Taliban, having returned to power, are increasingly imposing restrictions in line with their interpretation of Islamic law.