KABUL – Afghanistan has been plunged into a digital blackout after the Taliban ordered the suspension of internet services nationwide and mobile networks also began to collapse, cutting off nearly all communication with the outside world.
Residents across Kabul and several provincial cities reported on Monday that fiber-optic services were no longer available, with only limited mobile data functioning briefly before signal towers stopped working altogether.
As a result, it is now no longer possible to place or receive international calls into Afghanistan, leaving families, businesses, and aid organizations unable to reach people inside the country.
Journalists based abroad confirmed that repeated attempts to contact Kabul, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, and Uruzgan failed, suggesting that the blackout has extended across multiple regions simultaneously.
Notices shared by local internet providers stated that the disruption was carried out on the orders of Taliban authorities.
While the Taliban had previously restricted internet access by disabling fiber-optic networks in individual provinces, mobile services had remained operational, though slowed and heavily monitored.
The current blackout marks the first time that both major communication channels have been shut down together, effectively isolating the country from the world.
