“ Total Blackout Internet ” in Afghanistan Sparks Panic after the Taliban swore to eliminate immoral activities
Afghanistan faced a radical internet breakdown on Tuesday after the Taliban in power promised to cut access as part of a repression of “immoral activities”, arousing fears of new insulation for millions of people living under their increasingly harsh rule.
The Internet Watchdog Netblocks said late Monday that several networks in Afghanistan had been disconnected on Monday on Monday on Monday and that telephone services were also affected, which gave what he said was a “used internet breakdown” in the country of 43 million people.
The Afghans abroad told CNN that they were unable to reach family members inside the country and, Tuesday morning, flight data showed that several incoming flights to Kabul had been canceled.
“Yesterday, there is no communication with one person,” a 30 -year -old Afghan who lives in the Indian capital of Delhi told CNN. “There is no way to speak, to make sure they are safe or not.”
Hadi has described a feeling of imminent panic among the Afghan diaspora suddenly cut off from their loved ones.
“It disturbs everything, I mean, everything is connected, at least we could make a call before,” he said.
Tolo News TV, based in Kabul, reported that the closure had seriously affected its operations. The Associated Press and the International Press Agency of the Associated Press and the Agency France both declared that they had not been able to contact their offices in the Kabul capital.
Used brands seem to be the most extensive and most coordinated telecommunications closures in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, raising fears of a return to the restrictions of the previous Taliban rule, which prohibited television, satellites and other mass communication devices in his war against immorality.
What caused the power outage – and how clear the breakdowns are not immediately clear. CNN is trying to reach Taliban officials to comment on the messaging application has not been passed and there has not yet been an official statement of the group.
Earlier this month, Taliban officials warned that they would remove internet access across the country “to prevent immoral activities”.
An “alternative system will be established in the country for essential needs,” said the governor of the province of Northern Balkh, Haji Zaid, in a statement. He did not specify what we heard by “immoral activities”.
Zaid said the Order came from Mawlawi Habatullah Aknunzada, the heated supreme chief of the Taliban.
Wahida Faizi, an Afghan journalist based in Denmark, described the personal assessment of the loss of contact with her family. “It’s been a few hours since the Internet was cut in Afghanistan, but for me, I have the impression that a life has passed,” Faizi told CNN on Monday.
“Each day after work, the voice of my mother and my father brought peace to my heart … Maybe we have always complained about the slow internet in Afghanistan, but today I realized that the internet itself defective and these simple moments of video calls were a great blessing,” said Faizi.
Activists have said that the closure could have devastating consequences for Afghanistan, which is in the grip of a humanitarian crisis that has only worsened since the Taliban seized power in 2021 following a chaotic withdrawal from the United States.
Since the Taliban prohibited girls from frequenting school beyond the sixth year, many have relied on online courses provided by educators abroad or by charitable organizations. With the internet cut, these opportunities are now threatened.
Sabena Chaudhry, communications director at Women for Afghan Women (WAW), an Afghan Women’s Rights Organization, told CNN that the power failure “was not only silent millions of Afghans, but also turned off their lifeline to connect with the outside world”.
Chaudhry, who is based in New York, said he had lost contact with staff in Afghanistan.
The Taliban has reduced human rights – targeting women and girls in a disproportionate manner – creating a “climate of fear and intimidation,” said a report of the United Nations assistance mission in Afghanistan (Unama) published in July of last year.
“The Afghanistan online speech online silence of Afghanistan is deafening,” wrote Mariam Solaimankhil, a member of the exiled Afghan government overthrown by the Taliban.
“My heart hurts – our people is cut, and the world is left in darkness without them.”
“Starlink is the only way to break the Taliban censorship channels,” she said, calling the owner of Starlink, Elon Musk, “standing on the right side of history”.
Starlink is not currently available in Afghanistan, according to the company’s website.
Hilary Whiteman contributed to the reports
