Subscribers are offline: why the Internet was turned off in Afghanistan

Disabling the Internet in Afghanistan will further plunge the country into a humanitarian and economic crisis. The lack of communication has already paralyzed airport operations, business, and the daily lives of citizens in general. It is impossible to make an elementary call. Various versions are being put forward in the media, including an attempt to prevent a military coup. But the president's special representative for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, assured: there is no threat to the security of Russian citizens and Russian foreign institutions. Why almost all communications were disconnected in the country is in the Izvestia article.

How to contact Afghanistan

The network was turned off in Afghanistan: neither the Internet nor mobile communication is working. On September 30, NetBlocks, an organization dedicated to monitoring Internet freedom in the world, announced massive outages since September 29.

"There is a complete Internet blackout in Afghanistan right now. Several networks were shut down in stages during the morning; telephone services are also currently affected," the report said.

The organization linked the outages to the government's campaign to "prevent immorality." It was for this purpose that two weeks ago, Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada banned fiber-optic Internet in the northern province of Balkh, an administration official said at the time. This is the first case of such a ban since the movement came to power. As a result, government offices, the private sector, and residential buildings were left without Wi-Fi.

The representative of the provincial government, Haji Attaullah Zaid, then stressed that the mobile Internet continues to work, but did not explain in any way the choice of the province for such "preventive" measures, or whether they will spread to other regions. But he hinted that "an alternative will be created in the country to meet the needs." After that, according to media reports, the Internet was cut off in at least five more provinces of the country.

Despite the fact that Afghanistan is hardly a technologically advanced state, it is still a part of the modern world, and most processes take place over the Internet in one way or another. Residents immediately felt the effects of the blackouts. In particular, Kabul Airport began canceling flights due to disruptions, the independent satellite TV channel Amu TV reported, citing sources. Among them are Ariana Afghan Airlines flights to Dubai and Kam Air flights to Istanbul. Moreover, according to sources, airport staff were not notified in advance about the Internet outage. One of the passengers was informed that there would be no flights until at least Thursday.

International news agencies are reporting a loss of communication with local bureaus. Satellite TV is working with serious interruptions. The lack of Internet, and even more so mobile communications, immediately affected private business. There are queues at banks for cash.

"It's like we're blind without phones and the Internet. Business has risen. All deliveries were via the mobile Internet. It's like a national holiday now — everyone is sitting at home," 42—year-old trader Najibullah told AFP.

Back in mid-September, one of the local residents told reporters in his heart that blocking the Internet in such a developed era was unacceptable. Some Afghan media sources report that the websites of the Ministries of Communications, Finance, Economy, Trade, Culture, Defense, Internal Affairs, Education and Higher Education are unavailable, even home wired phones are disabled.

The Taliban government has not yet provided any detailed comments on the outages. One official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that they could last "until further notice." It is possible that these are really temporary measures.

— The use of the Internet is not prohibited by the religious rules to which the Taliban adheres. A complete ban on the Internet is extremely unlikely, given that the Taliban have always used modern mass media," Nikita Mendkovich, head of the Eurasian Analytical Club, told Izvestia.

The expert admits that the ban has a secular or personal background, for example, for security reasons. By the way, the Afghan authorities sometimes suspend the operation of the mobile network during religious holidays to prevent the detonation of explosive devices. In general, local shutdowns are practiced in many countries, including Western ones, for example, in the case of anti-terrorist operations or fighting mass riots. Some sources, for example, point to the outbreak of internal conflict between different groups of the Taliban.

At the same time, there is no threat to security, for example, for Russian citizens in the country, Zamir Kabulov, the special representative of the Russian president for Afghanistan, told Izvestia.

"No outbound flights are being prepared for evacuation," Zamir Kabulov said. — And at the moment there is no threat to the security of Russians and Russian foreign institutions.

Why was the Internet turned off in Afghanistan

According to data for 2024, Afghanistan had a national fiber-optic network with a length of more than 9 thousand km, built with the support of the former government. This was how the authorities tried, among other things, to bring the country out of economic isolation. The Taliban, on the other hand, pursues a different policy from the previous Afghan leadership.

Since coming to power, the movement has consistently implemented Sharia law in Afghanistan as they understand it. In particular, the Taliban have issued more than 70 decrees restricting the rights of women and girls. Thus, Afghanistan remains the only country in the world where they cannot receive secondary and higher education. According to UNESCO, 1.4 million Afghan girls have been denied the opportunity to study at school. Among the recent controversial moves is the exclusion of books written by women from university curricula. In addition, 18 subjects were banned from teaching at universities, one third of which are somehow related to gender issues.

Of course, it is difficult not to link the Internet shutdown with the ideology of the authorities. For example, the Taliban had previously expressed concern about the spread of pornography on the Internet, writes Reuters.

Probably, the authorities could launch a new round of social reform, which is expected by their inner circle, Omar Nessar, a researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Izvestia.

— Firstly, this is due to the fact that after the ban on women's education, online courses began to spread in the country. And many Afghans abroad have started doing this. Secondly, thanks to the Internet, Afghans gain access to opposition websites and Western resources. Against this background, the authorities may take a step towards centralizing Internet traffic. If they succeed, they can install a filter and resume the cable Internet in the previous mode," the expert says.

The UN mission in Afghanistan has already called on the Taliban to restore access to the Internet and telecommunications, saying that the measures taken have almost completely cut off the country from the outside world. All this will only worsen the humanitarian and economic crisis in the country, which has been caused, among other things, by American sanctions.

At the same time, a version is spreading in the information space that is not related to the tightening of Kabul's policy. It is reported that the country's top leadership is currently in Kandahar to discuss security issues amid recent statements by Donald Trump about his desire to get back the Bagram airbase built by the Americans.

A week ago, the US president even threatened Afghanistan with some "bad things" in case of refusal. Trump explained his zeal by saying that the base "is located just an hour [flight] away." from the place where China manufactures nuclear weapons." In 2001-2021, the Bagram airfield served as the largest base of the international coalition led by Washington. After that, the United States withdrew its troops from Afghanistan, and the airbase came under the control of the Taliban. However, experts interviewed by Izvestia doubt the viability of this version. They agree that the reasons for Internet outages are rather internal.

— The Taliban is certainly building a fairly aggressive and conservative regime in Afghanistan, but unfortunately it is the flesh of the flesh of the local society, which is committed to such rules, norms and strict restrictions. This is a certain elite that was formed during the struggle against the American occupiers," Mendkovich emphasizes.

At the same time, the Taliban, for all the radicalism of their approaches, are still trying to integrate the country into international processes. Thus, Afghanistan remains a de jure member of the SCO. In May, a delegation from the movement arrived at the Rossiya National Center, where a meeting of high—level representatives in charge of security issues was held, and in June - to St. Petersburg for the SPIEF, and without the status of a terrorist organization. Moreover, in July 2025, Russia officially recognized the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. There are more or less normal contacts even with the United States. In September, the Afghan Foreign Ministry announced consultations with the American delegation in Kabul, where the parties discussed the possible release of detained citizens.