Afghanistan lives on Tuesday, September 30, a second day without the Internet or mobile phone on Tuesday, September 30, after the Taliban authorities reduce fiber optic connections.
Diplomatic sources told AFP on Tuesday that most mobile networks were out of service. For its part, a United Nations source reported “seriously disturbed” operations and said it had to “go back in radio communications and limited satellite ties.”
“Without a phone or internet, we are blind”
Telephone services are often transported through the Internet, sharing the same fiber optic lines, especially in countries where telecommunications infrastructure is limited.
This is the first time that communications have been cut in the country since the return of the Taliban to power in 2021, which have established numerous restrictions in accordance with their interpretation of the Islamic law.
“Without a telephone or internet, we are blind,” said Najibullah, a 42 -year -old merchant in Kabul. “All our activities depend on mobile phones. Deliveries are made by mobile phone. It’s like a vacation, everyone is at home. The market is completely paralyzed,” he said.
International flights to Afghanistan were canceled on Tuesday, according to the Flightradar24 site, which follows air traffic around the world.
On Monday night, the signal of mobile phones and the Internet gradually weakened until connectivity is less than 1% of the usual levels, according to the Netblocks Observatory, which controls cybersecurity and internet governance. AFP lost all contact with his office in the capital of Kabul on Monday around 5:45 pm (3:15 pm in Paris)
A cut decided “until again notice”
A few minutes before cutting, a government official told AFP that it would last “even more notification.”
Communications “will be reduced, this will be done gradually last night, from 8,000 to 9,000 telecommunications pylons will be out of service,” he told AFP on anonymity.
“There is no other form or system to communicate (…): the banking sector, customs, the whole country will be affected,” added the manager.
According to Netblocks, this cut “seems to correspond to an intentional disconnection of the service.”
“I am totally separated from my family in Kabul,” said a 40 -year -old Afghan who lives in Oman who asked to remain in anonymity, together with SMS per AFP. “I don’t know what is happening, I’m really worried,” he added.
Digital restrictions already existing for several weeks
In recent weeks, Internet connections have been extremely slow or intermittent.
Taliban authorities in Afghanistan began to restrict Internet access at the beginning of the month, reducing connections in several provinces. This measure, ordered by the supreme chief of Taliban Hibatullah Akhundada, ended in particular broadband Internet in several regions.
On September 16, Attaullah Zaid, the spokesman of the province of Balkh (north), announced the complete prohibition of Internet navigation by fiber optics in this territory.
“This measure has been taken to avoid vice and other measures will be implemented throughout the country to meet connectivity needs,” he wrote on social networks.
At that time, the AFP correspondents had reported the same restrictions in the provinces of Badakhshan and Takhar (North), as well as in Kandahar, Helmand, Nangarhar and Uruzgan (South).
In 2024, Kabul had praised the merits of his 9,350 -kilometer fiber optic network, built largely by the ancient governments supported by the United States, as a “priority” to bring the country to the rest of the world to the country and get it out of poverty.
Source: BFM TV
