The Taliban cut off Afghanistan’s access to the outside world on Monday, shutting down internet and telecom services in a move the United Nations warned could cause “significant harm” to the country’s citizens.
🚨 Afghanistan has gone dark.
— The Afghan-American Foundation (@Afghan_American) September 30, 2025
The Taliban have imposed a nationwide internet blackout.
Not just cut off from the world, but from each other.
No news.
No lifelines.
No voices.
This is how repression works in the dark.#AfghanistanBlackout #AfghanVoices #AfghanistanOffline pic.twitter.com/cwUtNcDPyP
The blackout, which was prompted in an effort to curb "immoral" activity online by the Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, has grounded flights, frozen banks, and cut off millions of Afghan citizens from their businesses. Earlier in September, Taliban forces were directed to dismantle fiber optic cables in several of Afghanistan's provinces.
The monitoring group, NetBlocks, confirmed to Reuters that internet traffic in Afghanistan has dropped to around one percent of normal traffic levels. They also explained that the Taliban cut connectivity in phases, the last of which severed telephone services.
Afghan telecom companies said that they are "managing this sensitive and complex situation," and are hoping to restore services soon.
Tolo News confirmed to Reuters that Taliban authorities have set a one-week deadline to shut down 3G and 4G services, leaving only 2G available.
The United Nations mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) wrote in a statement that the blackout "has left Afghanistan almost completely cut off from the outside world, and risks inflicting significant harm on the Afghan people." UN officials also noted that the blackout has severely hindered their humanitarian missions within the country.
The UN refugee agency’s country representative, Arafat Jamal, told reporters that the agency could no longer contact front-line aid workers, many of whom are still responding to a massive earthquake that hit Afghanistan several weeks ago.