Taliban Deny Nationwide Internet Ban, Blame Blackout on ‘Decaying Infrastructure’
October 1, 2025
The Taliban government has denied imposing a nationwide internet ban after a major blackout left millions of Afghans cut off from the outside world for more than 48 hours.
In an official statement, government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the disruption was caused by “decaying fibre optic infrastructure”, which authorities are now working to replace. Reports of a deliberate internet shutdown were dismissed as “baseless rumours.”
“There is nothing like the rumours being spread that we have imposed a ban on the internet,” Mujahid said, according to the Taliban’s Al Emarah website.
Internet Blackout Sparks Panic
The outage was first detected on Monday evening by NetBlocks, which reported a “collapse in internet access” across Afghanistan. The watchdog later described the incident as a “total internet blackout.”
By Wednesday afternoon, services remained largely down, creating chaos for businesses, aid workers, and ordinary citizens. Even Taliban officials admitted confusion. One leader in Kabul told NBC News:
“Nobody is telling us what is happening in the country. The majority of people don’t have access to each other.”
Impact on Daily Life and Aid Work
Rights groups warned that the blackout is having serious humanitarian consequences, disrupting education, healthcare, and commerce.
Human Rights Watch condemned the shutdown, noting that it particularly harms women and girls, many of whom rely on online learning since being barred from schools and universities.
Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at HRW, urged the Taliban to “drop baseless rationales and end these shutdowns.”
The United Nations also expressed concern. UN humanitarian coordinator Indrika Ratwatte said the blackout is hampering relief efforts:
“This is another crisis on top of existing crises, and the impact is going to be on the lives of Afghan people.”
Previous Restrictions
The disruption comes just weeks after Taliban officials in some provinces reportedly cut broadband access to curb what they described as “immorality” online. Observers fear that the current blackout could be part of a broader trend of digital restrictions.
What’s Next?
While authorities continue to blame infrastructure issues, NGOs insist the prolonged outage is devastating for ordinary Afghans. The situation remains fluid, with connectivity still severely disrupted across much of the country.
