RASC News Agency: Local sources have revealed that, following the controversial order by Taliban supreme leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada to cut internet services, six members of the group’s cabinet are preparing to travel to Kandahar to warn him of the growing administrative paralysis and damaging repercussions of the decision.
The move comes after government internet access in Balkh Province was abruptly suspended on Monday, September 15, with sources indicating that the blackout is set to expand to other provinces in the coming days.
According to insiders, the measure has already created widespread disruption across government offices, crippling essential operations in institutions such as the passport department and customs authorities. Civil servants complain that the decree has drastically slowed service delivery to the public and, in many cases, brought entire offices to a standstill.
The Taliban-appointed governor’s spokesperson in Balkh publicly confirmed the suspension, posting on the social platform X that the directive came directly from the group’s reclusive leader. He justified the decision as an attempt to “prevent immoral practices,” a rationale widely dismissed by analysts as a pretext for tightening control and isolating government employees from the outside world.
Earlier reports suggested that the Taliban’s leadership intends to deprive all state institutions of internet access nationwide, beginning from the north. Over the past five days, government offices in multiple provinces have reportedly been forced offline, leaving staff unable to perform even basic administrative tasks.
Experts and civil servants alike have voiced deep concern over the consequences of the blackout, calling it a serious obstruction to governance. They warn that prolonging such measures will undermine public services, hinder trade and administrative procedures, and further erode the already fragile relationship between Afghanistan’s citizens and the Taliban’s ruling apparatus.
Observers stress that this latest decree reflects a broader pattern: a leadership cut off from reality, issuing ideological edicts from Kandahar that weaken state functions while plunging ordinary Afghanistani citizens deeper into hardship. By framing the internet as a “moral threat,” the Taliban continue to sacrifice governance and development at the altar of repression isolating not only their officials but also the country itself from the modern world.
