For two days, Afghanistan was virtually cut off from the outside world. Internet and phone services vanished on Monday, paralysing businesses, grounding flights and leaving millions unable to contact loved ones.
By Wednesday evening, though, the streets of Kabul were alive with celebration as Afghans rushed to make phone calls, check messages and reconnect after the nationwide blackout.
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“Everyone is happy, holding their cell phones and talking to their relatives,” one Kabul resident told BBC Afghan. “From women to men and even Talibs, each was talking on phones after services were restored. There are more crowds now in the city.”
The Taliban government, which has faced criticism for restricting freedoms since returning to power in 2021, initially offered no explanation. Later, officials dismissed claims that they had deliberately imposed an internet ban.
“There is nothing like the rumours being spread that we have imposed a ban on the internet,” the Taliban said in a short statement to Pakistani journalists, insisting the disruption was caused by faulty fibre-optic cables.
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Yet, the explanation has been met with scepticism. Netblocks, a global internet watchdog, described the shutdown as a “total internet blackout”, while local outlets reported that the Taliban had previously discussed curbs on 3G and 4G mobile services.
A Taliban official had even told AFP earlier in the week that “eight to nine thousand telecommunications pillars” would be shut down “until further notice.”
By midweek, network monitoring showed what Netblocks described as “partial restoration” of connectivity. A source told BBC Afghan that the Taliban prime minister had personally ordered services to resume, though the government has not publicly confirmed this.
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Suhail Shaheen, a senior Taliban spokesman based in Qatar, later said that “all communications” were restored.
The disruption, though short-lived, had wide-reaching effects. The United Nations warned it had “inflicted significant harm” on Afghans, cutting them off during one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Banks and shopping centres in Kabul closed. International money transfers, a vital lifeline for families dependent on relatives abroad, came to a halt. Emergency services were harder to access.
Even the aviation sector was affected, with flights delayed or cancelled due to the loss of communications.
For ordinary Afghans, the return of the internet brought relief — but also uncertainty about what lies ahead. The Taliban has previously spoken about restricting online access “for the prevention of vices”, and critics fear more blackouts could follow.
