Afghanistan’s cellphone, internet services down, monitoring shows

KABUL -Afghanistan’s internet and mobile telephone services were down nationwide on Tuesday, residents and monitoring services said, but the Taliban administration offered no immediate explanation.

In the past, the Taliban have voiced concern about pornography online, with authorities having cut fibre-optic links to some provinces in recent weeks, as officials cited morality concerns.

NetBlocks, an international internet access monitoring organisation, said the internet was disconnected in phases.

“Afghanistan is now in the midst of a total internet blackout as Taliban authorities move to implement morality measures,” NetBlocks said on its website.

(Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar; Writing by Saeed Shah; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)