Cell phone and internet services in Afghanistan were restored on Wednesday, roughly 48 hours after connectivity was abruptly cut under the Taliban administration, affecting millions of residents. Major providers, including Roshan and Etisalat, resumed operations in Kabul and other cities, while internet access was reinstated, according to service companies.
The Taliban did not officially state why services were suspended or why they were restored. A source from the Taliban’s information department cited “technical reasons” for the outage and promised a swift restoration, though Reuters could not independently verify this claim. It also remains unclear whether the outage was a direct order from the Taliban leadership.
The United Nations had called for connectivity to be reinstated. The disruption caused significant chaos, halting financial remittances, trade with neighboring countries, banking operations, and flights. It also disrupted online education for teenage girls and women, a vital learning avenue after the Taliban banned them from high schools and universities. The outage comes amid a series of strict measures this year, including a northern internet ban and a ban on chess over alleged gambling concerns.
