TALIBAN DENIES CLAIMS OF NATIONWIDE INTERNET SHUTDOWN IN AFGHANISTAN

Wed 01 October 2025:

The Taliban has refuted claims of imposing a nationwide internet ban amid a recent communications blackout in Afghanistan this week.

In a statement provided to Pakistani journalists via a chat group on Wednesday, Taliban representatives attributed the disruptions to aging fibre-optic cables requiring replacement.

“There is nothing like the rumours being spread that we have imposed a ban on the internet,” they said in a statement.

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It is the first public announcement on the issue since the start of communications failures, which also compromised telephone services, on Monday.

Netblocks, a global internet watchdog, said at the time that there was a “total internet blackout” in the nation of 43 million people.

Despite the Taliban claiming no hand in the internet closure, the group has previously cut internet services in some areas of the country as part of leader Haibatullah Akhunzada’s decree to combat purported immorality.

On September 16, the Balkh provincial spokesperson confirmed that fibre-optic internet had been completely banned in the northern province “to prevent vice”.

Restrictions were also reported last month in the northern provinces of Badakhshan and Takhar, and the southern provinces of Helmand, Kandahar and Nangarhar.

An Afghan government official told the AFP news agency on Monday that “eight to nine thousand telecommunications pillars” from the fibre-optic network would be shut down “until further notice”.

Meanwhile, online TV channel TOLOnews said earlier this week that the Taliban had set a one-week deadline for the shutdown of 3G and 4G internet services for all mobile phones.

As well as severing personal communications, the blackout has affected sectors including aviation, banking and commerce.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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