Mobile networks restored across Afghanistan after 48-hour blackout

Mobile networks were restored in several Afghan provinces, including Kabul, on October 1, two days after the Taliban authorities shut down telecommunications.

The outage began on September 30, leaving much of the country without mobile service or internet, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

 It marked the first nationwide communications blackout since the Taliban seized power in 2021.

Signals and Wi-Fi returned to provinces including Kandahar, Khost, Ghazni and Herat. The Taliban government has not commented on the disruption.

NetBlocks, an internet watchdog, said the shutdown “appears consistent with the intentional disconnection of service,” noting that connectivity had fallen to just one per cent of normal levels.

The United Nations said the blackout “left Afghanistan almost completely cut off from the outside world,” urging authorities to restore access.

Officials had previously warned that the fibre-optic network would be severed “until further notice,” disrupting banks, businesses, airports and schools. Many Afghans travelled to border towns to connect through signals from Iran and Pakistan.

Last month, provincial authorities said internet restrictions were ordered by Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada to “prevent vice.”

“Recent studies in Afghanistan found that internet applications have badly affected the ongoing, economic, cultural and religious foundations of society,” Balkh spokesman Attaullah Zaid said at the time.

By Aghakazim Guliyev