Afghanistan's main airport is at a standstill as the country grapples with the fallout of a nationwide internet shutdown imposed by the Taliban government.
The Taliban has yet to give an official reason for the decision, which took effect on Monday, but did say it would last until further notice. The UN stated it risks inflicting significant harm.
Communication within Afghanistan, and out to the wider world, has been severely affected, as have essential services - including banking and payments - and access to online education, a lifeline for many women and girls.
Kabul airport, meanwhile, was nearly deserted, according to one resident, with no evidence of planes arriving or leaving.
#Flight tracking service Flightradar24 showed that a handful of incoming and outgoing flights on Tuesday had been cancelled. Many more simply had their status marked as unknown.
One passenger who planned to fly into Kabul International Airport on Tuesday was told there would be no flights until Thursday at the earliest. Another local said all flights from Kabul airport had been cancelled since Monday evening.
He added that life in Kabul seems to be normal, but mentioned there was no communication at all across the country.
The United Nations mission in Afghanistan called on the Taliban authorities to immediately restore nationwide internet and telecommunications access. The cut in access has left Afghanistan almost completely cut off from the outside world, risking significant harm to the Afghan people, threatening economic stability and exacerbating one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, it stated.
'We are blind without internet'
The Taliban government has been severing fibre-optic internet connections across several provinces for weeks. It began in select provinces but intensified to contact the capital Kabul on Monday. Residents felt like they were blind without phones and internet.
Businesses relying on mobile communication reported significant disruptions, with many stating their operations were practically frozen.
International news agencies have reported loss of contact with their offices in Kabul, while banking operations are also severely hindered in various regions.
In a post on Mastodon, Netblocks stated that the country was experiencing a total internet blackout as Taliban authorities implement morality measures. The ban on internet access is seen as part of a series of restrictive policies since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021.
The ongoing situation has particularly impacted women and girls, who already face educational restrictions. As one affected student remarked, When I heard that the internet had been cut off, the world felt dark to me.
