The Taliban closed internet and telecom services in Afghanistan on Monday, causing the country to fall in the almost total digital darkness and attracted a UN warning for “considerable damage” for citizens.
The blackout would have come after the 9,350 kilometers of fiber optic network of Afghanistan was disabled, causing flights to be grounded, frozen and millions of citizens and companies cut off.
Kabul International Airport has canceled or marked all commercial flights as ‘unknown’, so that the most important air hub in the country is virtually abandoned, per Reuters.
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The Taliban has not given a clear explanation for the blackout and only said that the suspension would last “until further notice”. (Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty images)
Monitoring Group Netblocks has also confirmed Reuters That traffic level had fallen to about one percent of the normal, which underlines the unprecedented scale of the disruption.
According to Reuters, the Taliban ordered internet and mobile data services to cut throughout the country, with diplomatic and sources in the industry that confirmed that the connectivity of mobile phones had collapsed.
Netblocks also confirmed that the connectivity was cut in phases from Monday, with the final phase also affecting telephone services, which share infrastructure with the internet.
The National Black -out seems to be part of a phased campaign led by the Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada in Kabul. Earlier in September he led the dismantling of fiber optic networks in many provinces.
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According to Reuters, Taliban leader Hibhundzada had ordered the dismantling of networks. (Afghan Islamic press via AP, File)
Civil servants have defended the move as a way to curb “immorality” online, who took previous statements from provincial governors.
Reuters reported that Afghan telecom companies said they “managed these sensitive and complex situation” under Taliban guidelines, while hoping they will soon be recovering the services.
Private Omroep Tolo News, also cited by Reuters, reported that the authorities had set a one-week deadline to close 3G and 4G internet services for mobile phones, making only 2G active.
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The Mission of the United Nations in Afghanistan (Unama) has encouraged the Taliban to restore immediate access to the country and Kabul (above) (Reuters/Ali Khara.)
In a statement, the Mission of the United Nations in Afghanistan (Unama) insisted on the Taliban to recover immediately and warned that the Black -Out “Afghanistan has cut off almost completely from the outside world and the risk is considerably damaged to the Afghan people.”
Reuters also quoted UN officials who say that the Black -out has paralyzed humanitarian operations.
Arafat Jamal, the country representative of the UN Refugee Agency, told reporters how it could not reach a front line help employees, including those who responded to a deadly earthquake in the east.
“It is another crisis on top of the existing crisis,” he said via satellite link from Kabul.
