KABUL: The United Nations called on Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities on Tuesday to immediately restore internet and telecommunications in the country, 24 hours after a nationwide blackout was imposed.

The government began shutting down high-speed internet connections to some provinces earlier this month to prevent “immorality”, on the orders of shadowy supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.

Mobile phone signal and internet service weakened on Monday night until connectivity was less than one per cent of ordinary levels.

Afghans are unable to contact each other, online businesses and the banking systems have frozen, and diaspora abroad cannot send crucial remittances to family.

All flights were cancelled at Kabul airport on Tuesday, AFP journalists saw.

“The cut in access has left Afghanistan almost completely cut off from the outside world, and risks inflicting significant harm on the Afghan people, including by threatening economic stability and exacerbating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises,” the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a statement.

“The current blackout also constitutes a further restriction on access to information and freedom of expression in Afghanistan,” it added.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2025