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Afghanistan faces a second day without internet and mobile phone services after Taliban authorities cut Fiber Optical Network.
The government began closing high-speed internet ties with certain provinces earlier this month to prevent the order of Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada “bad habits”.
On Monday night, cell phone signals and internet services gradually weakened nationwide until connectivity was less than one percent of the average level, according to Internet WatchDog NetBlocks.
This is the first time since the Taliban government won They rebelled in 2021 and imposed Sharia law, which believes that communications in the country have been closed.
“We are blind people without phone calls and the internet,” said Najibullah, a 42-year-old shop owner, in Kabul.
“All our business relies on mobile phones. Delivery vs. mobile phone delivery. It’s like a holiday, everyone is at home. The market is completely frozen.”
Minutes before the incident, a government official warned AFP The fiber optic network will be cut, which will also affect the mobile phone service.
He said the “eight to nine thousand telecommunications pillars” would be closed, adding that the power outage would continue until “additional notice.”
“There is no other way or system to communicate…banking, customs, everything will be affected,” the official, who asked not to be named.
The Taliban leader reportedly ignored warnings from some officials earlier this month to cut the economic impact of the internet and ordered authorities to urge a nationwide ban.
Radio communication
Diplomatic sources told AFP On Tuesday, most of the mobile networks were shut down.
Meanwhile, UN sources said: “Operations have been affected a bit, lagging behind radio communications, leaving limited satellites”.
Telephone services are usually routed over the Internet, sharing the same fiber optic lines, especially in countries with limited telecommunications infrastructure.
Internet connections have been very slow or intermittent over the past few weeks.
On September 16, Balk Province spokesman Attaullah Zaid said the ban came from the orders of the Taliban leaders.
“This measure was taken to prevent vices and other options will be offered nationwide to meet connectivity needs,” he wrote on social media.
then, AFP The correspondent reported restrictions in the northern provinces of Badakh Mountain and Takhar, as well as Kandahar, Helmand, Southern Gahar and Uruzgen in the south.
Netblocks, a supervisory group that monitors cybersecurity and Internet governance, said the power outage “seems to be consistent with the intentional disconnection of services.”
AFP On Monday at 5:45 pm (6:15 pm PKT), all contact with the bureau was lost in the capital Kabul.
“I have completely disconnected from my family in Kabul due to the closure,” a 40-year-old Afghanistan living in Oman AFP Through text messages, request not to name it.
“I don’t know what’s going on, I’m really worried.”
In 2024, Kabul touted a 9,350-kilometer fiber network built by a former U.S.-backed government, a “priority” to bring the country closer to the rest of the world and lift it out of poverty.
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