Internet blackout across Afghanistan in Taliban 'immorality' crackdown

An internet and mobile phone blackout has hit Afghanistan, as part of a Taliban crackdown on immorality.

Internet connectivity in Afghanistan had flatlined to about 1%, said NetBlocks, an international internet access monitoring organisation. "The incident is likely to severely limit the public's ability to contact the outside world," it added.

It is the first time Afghanistan has experienced a shutdown of this scale since the former insurgents seized power in August 2021. Earlier this month, several provinces lost some fibre-optic connections after Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada issued a decree banning the service to prevent immorality.

Private channel Tolo News, which warned viewers of a disruption to its services, said authorities had set a one-week deadline for the shutdown of 3G and 4G internet services for mobile phones, leaving only the older 2G standard active. Connectivity was cut in phases on Monday, with the final stage affecting telephone services, which share infrastructure with the internet.

Kabul, the capital, suffered the sharpest drop in internet connectivity, followed by the western city of Herat and Kandahar in the south. The United Nations mission in Afghanistan has urged the Taliban government to immediately restore nationwide internet and telecommunications access.

Last week, a teacher in Afghanistan shared with Sky News how a wifi switch-off in her area was "extinguishing the only light that still reaches us". She said: "This is more than a technical disruption - it's a rupture in the lifeline we've built together.

In this difficult moment, we need each other more than ever to stay strong, to stay hopeful." Analysts have warned cutting internet connectivity will further curtail the ability of girls to seek an education, as some had turned to the internet since the Taliban returned to power. Strictures ordered by the Taliban leadership have grown increasingly hardline.

This month, authorities stopped women working for the United Nations from entering its offices. Women have been banned from many lines of employment and girls from attending high school.

The Taliban has said it respects women's rights in line with their interpretation of Islamic law..