Many Afghan women and girls have lost their only remaining access to education and communication after the Taliban cut fibre-optic internet in 12 provinces, according to reports. The shutdown, ordered by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada to 'prevent immorality', has severed online learning platforms that became vital after girls were banned from secondary schools four years ago.
Seventeen-year-old Marjaneh from Kandahar had relied on nightly English lessons as her 'only source of hope' to win a scholarship abroad. But when the wifi went down, she was left with expensive and patchy mobile data, which is also off-limits for girls without a male relative to buy a SIM card. 'I thought when they closed schools at least they wouldn't cut the internet, but now that has been taken away too,' she said.
In Takhar province, 17-year-old Maryam had been studying coding and graphic design since January 2025. After the wifi cut, she switched to her phone but found the teacher's voice 'kept cutting in and out' and that coding required a stable computer connection. Her family previously paid 1,100 afghanis (£12) a month for unlimited wifi; mobile data costs double and finishes within days. 'This week I felt like I did during the fall of Kabul,' she said.
The internet blackout has affected not only education but also social connection. Roweida, a 25-year-old law student in Balkh province, said nightly Google Meet sessions with classmates 'kept our spirits alive'. When the internet went, 'it felt like the roof had fallen on us'. The Taliban is reportedly considering extending the ban to mobile internet services, which would cut off all online access for ordinary Afghans.
Afghanistan's fibre-optic network, built with $60m in donor funding and spanning nearly 6,000 miles, now sits idle. Mobile internet remains but is slow and costly in a country where 85% of the population live on less than 2,200 afghanis a month. Sonia, 21, from Baghlan, said buying 5GB of data for 400 afghanis lasted two weeks, making it 'impossible to keep paying for such a high cost'. The shift from unlimited home wifi to metered mobile data has doubled costs and sharply reduced access for families already struggling.
