KABUL (Kashmir English): Mobile network service and internet were restored nationwide on Thursday evening following a two-day total Internet blackout in Afghanistan.
The Taliban administration severed telecommunication services nationwide without warning on Monday night, paralyzing businesses, studies, and public communication.
Signals and Wi-Fi have reportedly been restored in Kabul, Kandahar, Khost, Ghazni, and Herat, the reports add.
Citizens went out in droves to rejoice at the return of the internet, honking car horns, purchasing balloons and sweets, and rejoicing.
Locals reported that “the city has come back to life”.
It is the first time the Taliban government has cut off telecommunications nationwide since 2021.
Internet watch group Netblocks reported that the blackout was due to “deliberate disconnection”.
The United Nations had declared the shutdown equal to isolating Afghanistan from the world and asked for its restoration immediately.
Earlier, Afghanistan was hit by a sudden communications crisis on Monday when a nationwide blackout brought internet and mobile phone services to a near standstill.
According to the foreign news agency, the AFP bureau in Kabul lost all connectivity at 6:15 pm, leaving citizens in dire straits.
Global internet monitoring group Netblocks confirmed that nationwide connectivity in Afghanistan had fallen to just 14 percent.
The group said the disruption was not the result of a technical glitch but an apparent deliberate disruption, leaving users in a state of shock and uncertainty.
Taliban authorities began cutting fiber optic lines in several provinces earlier this month.
The internet was completely shut down in Balkh province on the orders of Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, while provincial spokesman Attaullah Zaid clarified on September 16 that alternative facilities would be provided to the public later.
Similar restrictions were also imposed in several other provinces, including Badakhshan, Takhar, Kandahar, Helmand, and Nangarhar.
