An internet blackout has hit Afghanistan, with local media reporting a potential nationwide cut of fibre-optic services as part of the Taliban's campaign to prevent 'vice'.
In the minutes before it happened on Monday, a government official warned AFP that the fibre-optic would be cut, affecting mobile phone services too. "Eight to nine thousand telecommunications pillars" would be shut down, he said, adding that the blackout would last "until further notice".
Internet-access advocacy group Netblocks said that live metrics showed connectivity in Afghanistan had “collapsed” to 14 percent of ordinary levels, with a near-total nationwide telecoms disruption in effect.
“The incident is likely to severely limit the public’s ability to contact the outside world,” the group added.
It’s the first time Afghanistan has experienced a shutdown of this kind since Taliban came to power in August 2021.
"This measure was taken to prevent vice”
Earlier this month, several provinces lost fibre-optic connections after Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada issued a decree banning the service to prevent immorality.
On September 16, Balkh provincial spokesman Attaullah Zaid said fibre-optic internet was completely banned in the northern province on the Taliban leader's orders.
"This measure was taken to prevent vice, and alternative options will be put in place across the country to meet connectivity needs," he wrote on social media.
The private TOLO News TV channel said sources had confirmed that fibre-optic internet could be cut all over the country starting on Monday.
Cloudfare Radar, a global internet traffic monitor, said that Kabul, the capital, suffered the sharpest drop in internet connectivity, followed by the western city of Herat and Kandahar in the south.
