Afghanistan Internet Crisis: Six Taliban Ministers Sent to Kandahar amid Dispute in Mazar-e-Sharif

DID Press: Following a major outage of fiber-optic internet in Balkh province that disrupted government services nationwide, six ministers from the Taliban’s caretaker government have been dispatched to Kandahar province to assess the crisis. At the same time, reports point to growing tensions between Taliban-appointed governor of Mazar-e-Sharif city and the acting minister of telecommunications over control of internet services in Balkh.

Local sources said that fiber-optic services provided by Afghan Telecom have been completely down in Balkh since Monday (September 14), with fears the blackout might spread to other provinces. The outage has slowed or halted operations at key government offices, including passport departments and customs authorities, raising concerns about a wider administrative paralysis.

Meanwhile, in Mazar-e-Sharif, sources reported that Taliban governor — seen as a close ally of Kandahar leadership — unilaterally ordered the shutdown of fiber services without coordination with the Ministry of Telecommunications, sparking friction within the administration.

Analysts say the Taliban have yet to reach a consensus on the future of internet access in Afghanistan. While some officials close to Kandahar favor restrictions or outright shutdowns on security grounds, others in Kabul strongly oppose such measures.

Observers warn that if the current trajectory continues, Afghanistan may face gradual, step-by-step internet restrictions, potentially including bans on live video streaming and other limitations on online content.