Taliban leaders have decided to shut down fiber optic internet services across the country, sources familiar with their leadership meeting in Kandahar told Amu.
The meeting, chaired by Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and attended by Taliban’s senior officials, concluded Wednesday, Sept. 17, with an agreement to cut fiber optic access nationwide, the sources said.
However, participants also agreed that mobile network internet would remain available, according to the sources. They said the meeting acknowledged the necessity of internet in the modern era but instructed officials to find alternative systems for essential state institutions, including banks, customs offices, and the National Statistics and Information Authority.
The move comes after three consecutive days of fiber optic shutdowns in 14 provinces — including Balkh, Kandahar, Helmand, Herat, Uruzgan, Nimroz, Kunduz, Takhar, Badakhshan, Baghlan, Paktika, Laghman, Nangarhar, and Kunar.
Human rights and press freedom groups have condemned the shutdowns, calling them a serious threat to free expression and an “inhumane act.”
