As the Taliban enforces a sweeping ban on high-speed internet, fears mount over Afghanistan’s economic isolation and the stifling of digital aspirations in a nation already reeling from years of turmoil.
Kabul, Afghanistan – The Taliban administration has ordered a fibre optic shutdown across multiple provinces in Afghanistan 2025, severing high-speed internet access to prevent what officials describe as “immorality”, affecting businesses, education, and daily communications since mid-September. This move, initiated by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, targets fibre optic networks in at least five northern provinces including Balkh and Kunduz, with reports of extensions to others like Nangarhar and Kandahar, as confirmed by provincial spokesmen and monitoring groups.
The fibre optic shutdown Afghanistan 2025 not only hampers Afghanistan’s fragile recovery but ripples across South Asia, potentially disrupting cross-border digital trade, remittances, and regional connectivity vital for economies in Pakistan, India, and beyond. By curtailing high-speed internet, it risks widening the digital divide in a region where Afghanistan serves as a key transit hub for fibre links to Central Asia.
Extent of the Fibre Optic Shutdown Afghanistan 2025
The ban began on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, in Balkh province, one of Afghanistan’s most populous regions, according to Haji Attaullah Zaid, a provincial spokesman for the Taliban. Zaid stated the restriction aimed “to prevent immorality”, with authorities planning to develop a domestic internet alternative. Connectivity plummeted immediately, as verified by NetBlocks, an internet-monitoring organisation, which reported sharp drops in fixed broadband speeds across affected areas.
By Wednesday, September 17, 2025, the order extended to four additional northern provinces: Kunduz, Badakhshan, Baghlan, and Takhar. Local media and officials have since indicated further disruptions in southern and eastern regions, including Nangarhar, Laghman, Kandahar, and Helmand. A monitoring report from Thursday, September 18, 2025, suggested the fibre optic shutdown Afghanistan 2025 now impacts up to 14 provinces, though the full extent remains unconfirmed by central authorities. Mobile data services persist but are unreliable and expensive, with prepaid cards costing up to AFN 500 for limited access.
This marks the most significant internet restriction since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021. Prior to the ban, Afghanistan’s fibre optic network – spanning over 9,000 kilometres and connected to seven regional gateways – supported average speeds of 40 megabits per second, enabling everything from e-commerce to remote work.
Affected Provinces and Immediate Fallout
In Balkh’s Mazar-i-Sharif, households and offices reported total blackouts by 2:00 PM on September 16, forcing reliance on slower satellite or mobile options. Businesses in Kunduz, a trade hub, halted online transactions, while schools in Badakhshan shifted to offline modes, exacerbating access issues in remote areas. The disruption has left tens of thousands without viable high-speed options, with NetBlocks noting a 70% drop in connectivity metrics.
Critics, including rights activists, argue the timing aligns with broader crackdowns on media and women’s education. An open letter from an Afghan women’s rights organisation warned: “This action represents not only a severe restriction on freedom of expression and access to information but also a deliberate attempt to cut off the Afghan people from the world. They are cutting Afghans off from every opportunity for education, progress, and hope.” Maria Noori, a rights activist, added: “Many girls in Afghanistan were secretly learning online. Now, the Taliban cut the internet, and I can no longer teach them. When girls are denied learning, society’s future is at risk.”
Impact on Afghanistan Economy Fibre Optic Shutdown 2025
The fibre optic shutdown Afghanistan 2025 poses a severe threat to the country’s nascent digital economy, which relies on affordable, high-capacity internet for growth. Experts estimate the network’s suspension could cost millions in lost productivity, with banking operations paralysed and online trade – a lifeline for small exporters – grinding to a halt.
Zalmay Khalilzad, former US special envoy for Afghan peace, cautioned: “It will damage not only the province’s economy but the country’s prospects as a whole. This decision will undermine investment and development.”** He described the rationale as “absurd and insulting”, questioning the assumption that locals used the service for illicit purposes.
Janat Faheem Chakari, former head of Afghan Telecom, highlighted the infrastructure’s value: “We have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on fibre optics. Through this network, we are connected to the entire world. Fibre optic has unlimited capacity, and its internet is both cheap and fast.” Shakir Yaqubi, an economic analyst, echoed this, noting: “Fibre optic services played a vital role in facilitating commercial communications. In operational management, especially in banking, it was a key enabler. It also provided many conveniences in education, as many people were engaged in online learning through these services.”
Afghanistan’s telecommunications sector, showing slow recovery in 2025 with digital services contributing AFN 50 billion annually, now faces reversal. The ban disrupts electronic banking, virtual education, and job creation in tech, potentially reducing GDP growth by 2-3% in affected regions, per analyst estimates. Rural expansion of services, a key goal since the 2007 project launch, is also stalled, isolating over 13 million users.
The Afghanistan Media Support Organisation labelled it “a grave threat to freedom of expression and the work of the media”, while Ali Maisam Nazary of the National Resistance Front urged international action to counter the “era of terror and tyranny”. Business leaders warn of severed ties to global markets, with remittances – totalling USD 800 million yearly – at risk due to delayed transfers.
Background
Afghanistan’s national fibre optic backbone, initiated in 2007, aimed to bolster high-speed internet, telephony, and regional links. By November 2024, it covered 9,000 kilometres, connecting to networks in Pakistan, Iran, and Central Asia. This infrastructure was pivotal post-2021, fostering a digital economy amid sanctions and isolation. However, Taliban policies have progressively tightened controls, from content censorship to outright bans.
What’s Next
As the fibre optic shutdown Afghanistan 2025 unfolds, pressure mounts for reversal amid international condemnation. Rights groups call for UN intervention, while domestic alternatives promised by officials remain unproven. The ban’s expansion could accelerate economic decline, prompting calls for regional diplomacy to safeguard South Asian digital corridors.
In the shadow of these restrictions, the fibre optic shutdown Afghanistan 2025 underscores the Taliban’s deepening grip on information, leaving Afghanistan’s digital future in precarious limbo.
Published in SouthAsianDesk, September 19th, 2025
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