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Afghanistan Goes Dark: Taliban Pull Plug on 40 Million People

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The entire country of Afghanistan has just entered a total communications blackout. At 5pm on Monday 29 September, Taliban authorities cut the country’s fibre-optic backbone, reducing internet and mobile connectivity to less than 1% of normal operations according to internet watchdog NetBlocks. The UN has called for services to be restored immediately, warning of severe economic and humanitarian risks. 

Air travel halted without warning. Reportedly, Turkish airlines flying into Kabul were not given advance notice of the internet shutdown, opting for a sudden cancellation. Everything from border operations to daily shopping, bureaucratic procedures, international trade and tourism has been cut off in an instant, and diplomatic sources say the shutdown will “remain in place until further notice”. 

Afghanistan completely disconnected by Taliban, internet restricted nationwide

The Taliban Just Took a Whole Country Offline

Officials have framed the move as a morality measure, aimed at stopping vice like pornography access, after weeks of progressively severing fibre links province by province. On the ground, the effective is boundless, throttling phones, banking, customs, media, schools, hospitals and aid work with one sweeping decision. Kabul residents report being blind without phones and internet that support everyone’s day-to-day lives, and the outages continue with no clear line on when they’ll be back up and running. 

Why It Happened

Officially, there is no specific reason for this week’s total blackout. However, earlier this month, a spokesperson for the Taliban governor in Balkh province wrote on X that the ban on fibre-optic internet was meant to curb “evils”. He added that authorities would explore alternatives.  

This week’s connectivity cut-off is the latest in a series of Taliban-enforced restrictions introduced since they returned to power in the country. Already this month, they removed books written by women from the country’s education system – part of a new ban that’s also outlawed the teaching of human rights and sexual harassment. 

Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada ordered a “complete internet ban” earlier this month, starting in smaller provinces first. Haji Attaullah Zaid from the Balkh administration said “this measure was taken to prevent immorality, and an alternative will be built within the country for necessities”. 

Mahbob Shah Mahbob, an exiled Afghan journalist, said there was “concern about people accessing pornographic content inside Afghanistan”. He added that “they’re also concerned about how their extremist rule is being perceived by the outside world and the bad publicity”. 

A UN official in Kabul, on condition of anonymity, told news sources that “no notice was given today, but sporadic bans here and there were rolling out over the past few weeks in parts of the country” 

It’s Not Just About Afghanistan

The blackout hits international aviation, cross-border trade, remittances and humanitarian operations that rely on digital links for coordination and clearance. The UN has flagged critical risk to healthcare, payments and information access, particularly for women and girls who have already been forced into online spaces for services denied offline.  

Foreign arrivals, while still modest, have risen sharply under Taliban rule as niche adventure tourism opened historic routes to Kabul, Herat, Bamiyan and Mazar-i-Sharif. 9,000 foreign tourists visited in 2024, and over 3,000 made the trip in the first quarter of 2025 according to official reports. Today, an unknown number of those visitors face cancelled flights, offline land borders, and no internet to contact families or embassies. It’s impossible now to know how many, but undoubtedly foreigners are trapped inside the country with no support whatsoever.  

Who Gets Hit the Hardest?

  • Humanitarian aid agencies are falling back to radio and limited satellite links, slowing life-saving work and complicating security coordination 
  • Everyday commerce is suffering with banking, payment networks and supply chains stalling while communication is offline, hitting markets and medicine deliveries by the hour 
  • Travellers and residents unable to enter or leave the country with cancelled flights and visa and ticketing systems offline. Even overland crossings depend on digital systems, affecting personal freedoms and international trade routes 

So, What’s Happening in the Darkness?

If past shutdowns in other countries are a guide, authorities may be detaining critics, conducting raids, or pushing through policy that would face pushback if visible to the outside world in real time. The information vacuum allows for total narrative control when services partially return, for example by throttling internet speeds or limiting access to international platforms.

Final Thought

This is a deliberate, nationwide switch off. A population bigger than Poland, Ukraine or California has been plunged into darkness. Afghans – and quite probably, foreign tourists too – are suddenly stranded from the rest of the world, and critical humanitarian support has been totally disabled. Most importantly, it displays a government willing to make drastic changes, risking absolute disruption to the daily lives of its citizens, to impose what it considers moral restrictions. 

Join the Conversation

What do you think is happening during the blackout? Is it as simple as banning pornography, or is there more at play here? Should the international community just stand by and watch? Tell us your thoughts below. 

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author avatar
g.calder
I’m George Calder — a lifelong truth-seeker, data enthusiast, and unapologetic question-asker. I’ve spent the better part of two decades digging through documents, decoding statistics, and challenging narratives that don’t hold up under scrutiny. My writing isn’t about opinion — it’s about evidence, logic, and clarity. If it can’t be backed up, it doesn’t belong in the story. Before joining Expose News, I worked in academic research and policy analysis, which taught me one thing: the truth is rarely loud, but it’s always there — if you know where to look. I write because the public deserves more than headlines. You deserve context, transparency, and the freedom to think critically. Whether I’m unpacking a government report, analysing medical data, or exposing media bias, my goal is simple: cut through the noise and deliver the facts. When I’m not writing, you’ll find me hiking, reading obscure history books, or experimenting with recipes that never quite turn out right.
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Jose F
Jose F
20 days ago

And to think just 30 years ago we don’t even have Internet

L L O
L L O
Reply to  g.calder
20 days ago

My concern has been, since the beginning of the internet age, that “switching off” could happen “just like that” by anyone. We are all subject to that now. In addition to weather events or other “natural” ones that disrupt the services. It doesn’t take much to cause disruption. As tech “advanced” as it might seem we are, we live in a very tenuous situation, it seems to me.

raj patel
raj patel
Reply to  L L O
20 days ago

having worked in technology for 35 years the achilles heel is needing power to run the control system and solar storm or man-made equivalent that can take out the entire grid.

Luzdoh
Luzdoh
Reply to  L L O
20 days ago

I agree. We were always aware of our dependency on electricity. Hospitals, for example, have back-up supply to kick-in if there is a mains failure. But the internet? How do you create a back-up for this without being spotted?

Reverend Scott
Reverend Scott
Reply to  L L O
20 days ago

Stop relying on it then.

Reverend Scott
Reverend Scott
Reply to  g.calder
20 days ago

No one can switch off my maps or compass or navigation tables….or my mechanical watch and my learned ability to work out where I am using the sun moon and stars.

Luzdoh
Luzdoh
Reply to  Jose F
20 days ago

I’m not sure what your point is related to Afghanistan today. The problem has been well explained above. Now we depend on this for communication. Air travel ceases without it or at least becomes very dangerous. Banks and Hospital systems sieze up. Plus many more things we depend upon today.

Ralph Taylor
Ralph Taylor
Reply to  Luzdoh
19 days ago

it depends on whether you can access money in physical form of some sort for essentials eg food, water etc and transport . If these are restricted in any form ,this is criminal behaviour and what we expect from the world wide govt these days ,is it not ?? Also it now doesn’t matter where it is happening

Barbara Stevenson
Barbara Stevenson
Reply to  Ralph Taylor
19 days ago

CORRECT!

Alison
Alison
20 days ago

Anything that makes your life easier, more comfortable, is controlled by power-crazed psychopaths. 40 million people, anywhere in the world, coming together with the sole purpose of looking after and protecting each other would make a hell of a difference, it really wouldn’t matter what the psychopaths did. I know that’s never going to happen, too many are addicted to modern convenience and control but i can dream.

raj patel
raj patel
Reply to  Alison
20 days ago

yes, not sure why this article is not looking at it from another angle – one that could mean they are distancing themselves from the control of the UN etc. – it seems to be a very bias article for example “and quite probably, foreign tourists too – are suddenly stranded from the rest of the world, and critical humanitarian support has been totally disabled.” – you mean the ‘humanitarian support’ provided by the UN…or the ‘humanitarian support’ provided by the US invasion? for me this sums it up perfectly “The UN has called for services to be restored immediately, warning of severe economic and humanitarian risks.” – seems like they are worried that afghanistan maybe escaping their clutches – hoping more countries will do the same and disconnect from the evil internet which was created and weaponised by DARPA.

Luzdoh
Luzdoh
Reply to  Alison
20 days ago

Don’t stop dreaming Alison! I dream of a psychopath-proof system for running society.

Steel Albanian
Steel Albanian
20 days ago

Yeh support digital currency idjuts this is what will happen and you’ll be queuing up in food banks under total control of the globalist

Reverend Scott
Reverend Scott
20 days ago

Hardly a blackout. Anyone would think that the world didn’t before the Internet. I travelled the world in the late 70s and early eighties with things called ‘maps’ and using ‘radios’ for ‘communication’ and direction finding along with something called a ‘compass’. I did this in the deserts of Africa, the jungles of central America, the arctic and antarctic…travellers in those days could find their way around the world. I had a friend who could use a sextant. Nowadays you are all screwed. This is why I will have no trouble ditching my not so smart phone if the world goes digital….a world in which I will not play…

AkashicRecordLibrarian
AkashicRecordLibrarian
Reply to  Reverend Scott
20 days ago

Random comments…
Anyone knows what Afghan economic depency is under Taliban? But they are protected by CIA operatives. Weird, right!

How about Poppy flower plantations? Does ring a bell to anyone..?

Talking about compass… this is a common sense about compas… Why we only use North pointer? No matter where we are, South pointer always point south, right..?! So, try use south pointer at Australia or New Zealand for guiding. I guaranteed that you walk in perfect 30km circle over and over.

Do you want know why? Because we lived on plane under the celestial dome with North is the center and south actually ring of ice. Refer the Gleason Map for truth.

Dave Owen
Dave Owen
Reply to  AkashicRecordLibrarian
18 days ago
AkashicRecordLibrarian
AkashicRecordLibrarian
Reply to  Dave Owen
17 days ago

Thanks for the link BUT the documentary only scratches the surface of the reality of what’s is goin on in deep mountains terrains of Afganistan. Very limited and strict access allowed for anyone especially journalis.

The source of income of CIA from squeezing afghan people producing the drug for every single army in USA for emergency use if got shot (Morphine) and for entertainment industry in Hollywood are in horrified quantity because can bypass all borders or laws.

Afghanistan also sanctuary for Nephilim Giants. The CIA stationed there to block all secret informations from leaking out about giants still lived (Gog & Magog).

Rhoda Wilson
20 days ago

The article says, “authorities may be detaining critics, conducting raids, or pushing through policy that would face pushback if visible to the outside world in real time. The information vacuum allows for total narrative control.” This is what worries me – North Korea is case in point.

Stuart-james.
Stuart-james.
19 days ago

This is an example of the degree of power western governments want. The difference is western governments need our total addiction before they start to dictate.
The question is how do we curb this corruption in government?

trainman6
trainman6
19 days ago

What a backwards dung heap of a place run by the Islamic religion, a perfect example of what Islam does when in control of a country, the people suffer while 1% of the leaders live in luxury.

raj patel
raj patel
Reply to  trainman6
19 days ago

this could also be changed to: “a perfect example of what western government does when in control of a country, the people suffer while 1% of the leaders live in luxury.”

John
John
18 days ago

They know what’s coming.

Older Individual
Older Individual
13 days ago

No internet – no pandemic with the speed of a flash – just who and what controls who? We all jumped and reverberated with the hum of the internet fear mongering. In 1981 it was written that the people won’t accept what has to be done – you have to get them to demand it. Demanding is made easier with the instant access and we did demand it.
Profound or what?