{"id":225187,"date":"2025-10-19T13:24:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T13:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/225187\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T13:24:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T13:24:17","slug":"afghanistan-hit-by-communications-blackout-after-taliban-shuts-internet-afghanistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/225187\/","title":{"rendered":"Afghanistan hit by communications blackout after Taliban shuts internet | Afghanistan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">A huge communications blackout has hit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/afghanistan\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Afghanistan<\/a> after Taliban authorities began severing fibre-optic connections in several provinces to prevent \u201cvice\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cA nationwide telecoms blackout is now in effect,\u201d said Netblocks, a watchdog organisation that monitors cybersecurity and internet governance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe\u2019re now observing national connectivity at 14% of ordinary levels.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The watchdog said the incident \u201cappears consistent with the intentional disconnection of service\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Taliban authorities began the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/global-development\/2025\/sep\/23\/taliban-afghanistan-internet-shutdown-women-girls-education-hope\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">crackdown on internet access earlier this month<\/a>, in effect shutting down high-speed internet in several regions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Over the past several weeks, internet connections have been extremely slow or intermittent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Telephone services are often routed over the internet, sharing the same fibre lines, especially in countries with limited telecoms infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cPhysically pulling the plug on fibre internet would therefore also shut down mobile and fixed-line telephone services,\u201d Netblocks said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cIt may turn out that disconnecting internet access while keeping phone service available will take some trial and error.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">On 16 September, the Balkh provincial spokesperson Attaullah Zaid said fibre-optic internet was completely banned in the northern province on the leader\u2019s orders.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cThis measure was taken to prevent vice, and alternative options will be put in place across the country to meet connectivity needs,\u201d he wrote on social media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">At the time, the same restrictions were reported in the northern provinces of Badakhshan and Takhar, as well as in Kandahar, Helmand, Nangarhar and Uruzgan in the south.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In 2024, Kabul had touted the 9,350-km (5,800-mile) fibre-optic network \u2013 largely built by former US-backed governments \u2013 as a \u201cpriority\u201d to bring the country closer to the rest of the world and lift it out of poverty.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Since regaining power in 2021, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/taliban\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Taliban<\/a> have instituted numerous restrictions in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A huge communications blackout has hit Afghanistan after Taliban authorities began severing fibre-optic connections in several provinces 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