Total Blackout: Taliban Cuts Afghanistan’s Internet
🚨AFGHANISTAN GOES COMPLETELY DARK: Taliban Cuts Internet for 40 Million People in “Morality” Crackdown
BREAKING: Nationwide Blackout Severs Fiber-Optic Cables – Banking Frozen, Flights Cancelled, World Loses Contact With Kabul
KABUL, September 30, 2025 — In a move that has shocked the international community, the Taliban government has imposed a total internet blackout across Afghanistan, severing fiber-optic connections and cutting 40 million people off from the digital world.
The justification? Fighting “immorality.”
As of Monday evening, Afghanistan has joined North Korea as one of only two countries on Earth in complete digital isolation.
International news agencies report they’ve lost all contact with offices in Kabul. Banking systems are frozen. Flights are cancelled. Mobile internet is dead. Satellite TV has gone dark.
And the Taliban say this will continue “until further notice.”
⚡ THE MOMENT AFGHANISTAN DISAPPEARED: 5 PM Monday
Around 17:00 local time Monday (12:30 GMT), Afghans across the country noticed their fiber-optic internet connections simply stopped working.
At first, many assumed it was a technical glitch. Network problems aren’t unusual in Afghanistan.
But this was different. This was systematic.
Internet watchdog Netblocks watched in real-time as Afghanistan disappeared from the digital map:
“Afghanistan is now in the midst of a total internet blackout as Taliban authorities move to implement morality measures, with multiple networks disconnected through the morning in a stepwise manner; telephone services are currently also impacted.”
One network. Then another. Then another. Each going dark in sequence until the entire nation was offline.
💥 THE CASCADING DISASTER: What’s Already Broken
Because the shutdown happened late in the working day, many Afghans went to bed not fully grasping the catastrophe.
They’ll wake up Tuesday morning to discover:
BANKING: ATMs frozen. Digital payments impossible. Money transfers blocked.
AVIATION: At least 8 flights cancelled at Kabul International Airport per Flightradar24. Coordination systems down.
BUSINESS: International transactions impossible. Supply chains severed.
COMMUNICATIONS: Can’t email, message, or call outside Afghanistan.
MEDIA: Even Taliban-approved outlets like Tolo News warning of TV/radio disruptions.
International news agencies report total loss of contact with Kabul offices. No emails. No phone calls. Complete silence.
Afghanistan has become a black hole in global communications.
🔥 THE TALIBAN’S “MORALITY” EXCUSE: What They Really Mean
For weeks, the Taliban have been systematically cutting fiber-optic cables in various provinces.
Their stated reason? Preventing “immorality.”
What does “immorality” mean to the Taliban?
❌ Women communicating with men outside their families
❌ Access to entertainment (music, movies, TV shows)
❌ Exposure to “Western values”
❌ Women accessing education or information independently
❌ Any content that contradicts Taliban interpretation of Islam
A Taliban official confirmed Monday the shutdown is indefinite – no end date, no timeline, no conditions for restoration.
They promised an “alternative route for internet access” but gave absolutely zero details about what that means.
Translation? It’s not coming.
💔 BUSINESS APOCALYPSE: “Seriously Hit” Was an Understatement
Business leaders had been warning for weeks that continued internet disruptions would “seriously hit” their operations.
They were being optimistic.
This isn’t a “serious hit.” This is economic annihilation.
Afghanistan’s economy was already in catastrophic decline after:
- International sanctions post-Taliban takeover
- Withdrawal of foreign aid
- Banking system restrictions
- Currency devaluation
Now add: Complete loss of digital commerce and communications.
For the many Afghans who relied on freelance work for international clients – web developers, graphic designers, translators – their income just vanished overnight.
For businesses trying to import goods or coordinate with partners abroad – impossible.
For the remittance economy that keeps many families alive – frozen.
📺 MEDIA SUFFOCATION: Even Propaganda Outlets Can’t Function
Tolo News, a privately-owned Afghan news channel that’s managed to operate under Taliban rule, issued an almost desperate message:
Follow our social media pages for updates, they told viewers, because we expect disruptions to television and radio networks.
Stop and think about that. Even the Taliban-approved media can’t fully operate without internet infrastructure.
International journalists are completely cut off. No contact with stringers, sources, or offices in Afghanistan.
The world’s ability to know what’s happening inside Afghanistan just evaporated.
🌍 “COMPETING WITH NORTH KOREA”: The Devastating Comparisons
Hamid Haidari, former editor-in-chief of Afghan news channel 1TV, summed up the horror:
“Loneliness enveloped the entire country.”
Then he added the comparison that’s making headlines: “Afghanistan has now officially taken first place in the competition with North Korea for [internet] disconnection.”
That’s not rhetorical flourish. That’s literal fact.
Only two countries on Earth now exist in total digital isolation:
- North Korea (by design for 70+ years)
- Afghanistan (as of Monday)
Former Afghan MP Mariam Solaimankhil, now based in the US, captured the eerie silence:
“The silence online without Afghan voices from inside Afghanistan is deafening.”
She tagged Elon Musk in desperation – a plea for Starlink or some technological solution. But even Musk’s satellites can’t beam internet into a country whose government actively prevents it.
⚔️ THE PATTERN OF OPPRESSION: This Week’s Atrocity in Context
This blackout is just the latest in the Taliban’s systematic destruction of Afghan society since retaking power in 2021:
EDUCATION DESTRUCTION: 📚 Earlier this month: All books by women removed from universities
📚 Teaching of human rights banned
📚 Sexual harassment education outlawed
📚 Girls barred from education beyond age 12
📚 Midwifery courses (women’s last training route) shut down in 2024
WOMEN’S ELIMINATION: 👩 Can’t work in most professions
👩 Can’t travel without male guardian
👩 Can’t access education
👩 Can’t participate in public life
👩 Now: Can’t even access internet
An entire generation of Afghan girls is being raised in deliberate ignorance and isolation.
📊 THE INFRASTRUCTURE MURDER: Why This Is So Permanent
The Taliban didn’t just block websites or censor content.
They physically severed fiber-optic cables – the actual infrastructure that enables internet connectivity.
This isn’t like China’s “Great Firewall” that filters content while maintaining connectivity. This is physical destruction of internet infrastructure.
Fiber-optic cables carry data at light speed and form the backbone of modern internet. By cutting these cables, the Taliban have:
- Eliminated current connectivity
- Made restoration require massive physical infrastructure repair
- Ensured even if policy changes, rebuilding takes months or years
- Demonstrated they’re willing to destroy critical infrastructure permanently
This wasn’t an impulsive decision. This was calculated isolation.
🚀 THE HUMAN COST: 40 Million Lives Upended
Let’s be brutally clear about what this means for ordinary Afghans:
Students: Lost access to online education – their only hope for learning
Families: Can’t contact relatives who fled abroad – relationships severed
Sick people: Telemedicine impossible – healthcare access reduced
Women: Lost their last connection to outside world – total isolation
Freelancers: Income disappeared overnight – no way to work for foreign clients
Journalists: Can’t report abuses – Taliban atrocities now invisible
Businesses: Can’t operate internationally – economy collapses further
For Afghan women especially, the internet was often their only remaining window to education, work, and connection beyond Taliban control.
That window just slammed shut forever.
💰 THE REMITTANCE CATASTROPHE: How Families Survive
Millions of Afghans rely on money sent from relatives working abroad.
Those digital remittances – often sent through mobile banking or online transfer services – just became impossible.
Families who depend on that money for food, rent, and medicine are now cut off from their lifeline.
The humanitarian crisis, already severe, just got exponentially worse.
🎭 THE GLOBAL ISOLATION: Afghanistan Vanishes
As of Tuesday morning, Afghanistan has effectively ceased to exist in the digital world.
You cannot: ✉️ Email anyone in Kabul
📞 Video call family in Afghanistan
📰 Read firsthand Afghan journalism
💸 Transfer money to relatives there
🤝 Do business with Afghan companies
📱 Hear directly from Afghan citizens
The Taliban have built a digital prison with 40 million inmates.
⚡ THE FRIGHTENING PRECEDENT: What This Means Globally
This isn’t just about Afghanistan.
The Taliban have demonstrated that a government can completely sever a country from the internet and the international community will… what? Issue statements? Express concern?
What leverage does the world have when a regime decides total digital isolation is acceptable?
China censors. Russia restricts. Iran blocks. But they all maintain some connectivity.
The Taliban just proved you can go full North Korea – and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop you.
💔 THE BOTTOM LINE: 40 Million People Just Disappeared
Afghanistan is now a black hole.
No news coming out. No communications going in. No business connections. No family contact. No journalism. No documentation of abuses.
Just silence.
And the Taliban say it will last “until further notice.”
For 40 million Afghans – especially women and girls already stripped of education, work, and public life – the internet was their last connection to the world.
The Taliban just cut that final thread.
Afghanistan is now alone in the dark.
CRISIS UPDATE — Reporting severely limited. Updates only when information emerges from Afghanistan…