Taliban have cut fiber optic internet service in eastern Kunar province, bringing the total number of provinces facing such restrictions to 14, local sources said on Thursday.
Residents said service had already been disconnected in Balkh, Kandahar, Helmand, Herat, Uruzgan, Nimroz, Kunduz, Takhar, Badakhshan, Baghlan, Paktika, Laghman and Nangarhar.
In Kunduz, sources said Taliban forces entered several offices of internet providers and seized their equipment. The Taliban-appointed governor’s office later confirmed the disruption, saying fiber optic services were suspended under orders from the group’s supreme leader to prevent “immorality.”
In Herat, staff at the provincial telecommunications office and Afghan Telecom — the state-owned internet company — said development projects to expand fiber optic networks in the city’s Bekrabad and 64-Meter neighborhoods have been halted for two weeks.
The shutdowns have raised fears of serious consequences for communications, government services and online activities across Afghanistan.
Earlier this week, sources in Balkh said the disconnection of fiber optic internet had disrupted the province’s banking system, slowing or halting services at financial institutions and other agencies reliant on internet access. In response, Balkh governor Yousuf Wafa ordered that banks, the electronic ID office and several other key institutions be exempted. Bank services in Mazar-e-Sharif were restored by Tuesday morning.
Afghanistan has more than 13 million internet users, according to Taliban authorities. Rights advocates and residents say the restrictions are part of a broader campaign by the group to tighten control over information and limit freedoms.
