ISLAMABAD: Taliban authorities in Afghanistan have expanded a ban on internet use on the instructions of their supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada.
The Taliban have not issued any official explanation, but some officials privately stated the ban was enforced “to prevent immoral activities.”
Sections of the Afghan media reported that traders have faced difficulties at customs houses in provinces bordering Pakistan and Iran, saying they cannot email clients and foreign companies.
The ban has also disrupted the banking system, as financial transactions cannot be carried out without internet access.
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Taliban sources said the issue was discussed during a cabinet meeting in Kandahar around two months ago, where several participants opposed the idea.
Reports indicate that internet services have been blocked in Balkh, Kandahar, Nangarhar, Nimroz, Baghlan, Takhar, Kunduz, Oruzgan, Badakhshan, Zabul, Laghman, Herat, Farah, Helmand and Paktia. Nuristan and Logar provinces, which do not have optic fiber, were already without access. Afghanistan has a total of 43 provinces.
Despite the restrictions, mobile data and SIM cards still function across the country, providing some relief to citizens. Students, however, have complained that their online classes have been severely affected.
Balkh, whose capital is Mazar-e-Sharif, was the first province to impose a ban on optic fiber.
“By order of His Eminence, the Commander of the Faithful, Sheikh Sahib, may God protect him, a complete ban was imposed on fiber optic cables in Balkh. After that, there was no internet access through this cable and everything was cut off. This measure was taken to prevent evil and to provide alternative routes within the country for necessities,” Haji Zaid, spokesman for the Balkh governor’s office, said this week.
Khalilzad slams decision
Former US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad criticized the move shortly after Balkh province formally announced the ban.
“The decision to ban the use of the internet in Balkh province is absurd and unwise. It will damage not only the province’s economy but the country’s prospects as a whole. This decision will undermine investment and development,” Khalilzad wrote on X.
He added that the justification was “absurd and insulting.”
“On what basis does the leadership in Kandahar assume that the good Muslims of Balkh are using the internet for pornography? This decision is a mistake that hopefully will be corrected promptly,” he said.