Overview

• NetBlocks reports national internet availability at roughly 14% of normal levels and describes the disruption as consistent with an intentional disconnection.
• AFP says it lost contact with its Kabul bureau in the evening, with mobile service also affected in the capital.
• The blackout follows weeks of fiber-optic shutdowns in multiple provinces, including a full ban in Balkh cited by a provincial spokesperson as a measure to prevent vice with unspecified alternatives promised.
• Connectivity losses are disrupting government offices, businesses, journalism and online education, with women who rely on remote work and virtual learning facing outsized harm.
• The U.S. State Department called the restrictions very concerning, and the Committee to Protect Journalists labeled the broadband ban an unprecedented escalation of censorship.