Sawt Falasteen - Taliban shut down communications across Afghanistan

Connectivity was operating at less than one percent of its normal levels, according to internet watchdog Netblocks, who called it a "comprehensive, or total blackout".

In the minutes before it happened, a government official told AFP the shutdown would last "until further notice".

"It is going to be cut, it will happen gradually tonight, there are eight to nine thousand telecommunications pillars it will shut down," he told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"There isn't any other way or system to communicate... the banking sector, customs, everything across the country will be affected."

AFP lost all contact with its bureau in the capital Kabul at around 5:45 pm (1315 GMT).

Afghanistan's Taliban authorities began the crackdown on access earlier this month, effectively shutting down high-speed internet in several regions.

Telephone services are often routed over the internet, sharing the same fibre lines, especially in countries with limited telecoms infrastructure.

"A nation-wide telecoms blackout is now in effect," said Netblocks, a watchdog organisation that monitors cybersecurity and internet governance, adding it "appears consistent with the intentional disconnection of service".

"It may turn out that disconnecting internet access while keeping phone service available will take some trial and error."

Over the past weeks, internet connections have been extremely slow or intermittent.

On September 16, Balkh provincial spokesman Attaullah Zaid said fibre optic internet was completely banned in 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.

At the time, AFP correspondents reported the same restrictions in the northern provinces of Badakhshan and Takhar, as well as in Kandahar, Helmand, Nangarhar and Uruzgan in the south.

In 2024, Kabul had touted the 9,350-kilometre fibre optic network -- largely built by former US-backed governments -- as a "priority" to bring the country closer to the rest of the world and lift it out of poverty.

Since regaining power, the Taliban have instituted numerous restrictions in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law.

It is the first time since the Taliban government won their insurgency in 2021 that communications have been shutdown in the country.

H.Darwish--SF-PST