Taliban Plunges Afghanistan into Digital Darkness, Orders Roundup of Mentally Ill

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – In a sweeping and deeply alarming consolidation of its authoritarian control, the Taliban has plunged the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan into a state of digital isolation by banning high-speed fiber-optic internet across the nation and has simultaneously ordered its notorious Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice to begin a nationwide roundup of mentally ill patients. 

These two decrees, both issued under the direct authority of the Taliban's reclusive supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, represent a significant and chilling escalation of the group's efforts to sever the country from the outside world and to impose its rigid social order on the most vulnerable segments of its population.

The digital blackout, which sources confirmed to Afghanistan International has been in effect for the past three weeks, was officially acknowledged on Tuesday by a Taliban official in Balkh province. Haji Zaid, the spokesman for the Taliban governor in Balkh, confirmed that the shutdown of all fiber-optic internet services was carried out on the explicit orders of Akhundzada.

The stated reason for the ban, Zaid said, was "to prevent immoral activities," and he added that the authorities were now in the process of seeking "alternatives" to the modern, high-speed connectivity that has been severed.

The practical impact of this decision has been immediate and devastating. Residents in the major northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif reported on Monday that all Wi-Fi services had been cut, a shutdown that telecommunications companies confirmed was carried out under Taliban orders.

According to locals, services from the state-owned Afghan Telecom and all other cable internet providers have been suspended, leaving only slow and unreliable mobile internet as the sole, tenuous link to the digital world. This move effectively cuts off the high-speed backbone that connects Afghanistan to the international community through fiber-optic links with five of its neighboring countries.

The loss of these connections has severely crippled the nation's ability to function in the 21st century. Government offices, private businesses, and households can no longer access the reliable, fast internet that is essential for modern commerce, communication, and education.

Online government services, banking, and remote learning have been profoundly disrupted, while businesses are struggling to operate without the tools necessary for global trade and communication.

Analysts have warned that the move will not only further deter desperately needed foreign investment and restrict Afghanistan’s access to global markets, but will also deprive a generation of students of vital educational opportunities.

The shutdown bears a striking resemblance to the digital isolation of North Korea, where, as reported by Al Jazeera, global internet access is strictly limited to a tiny fraction of the population, with most citizens confined to a highly monitored and curated intranet.

This draconian measure is a stark illustration of the absolute and often inscrutable power wielded by Hibatullah Akhundzada.

As reported by France24, the supreme leader, who is believed to be in his 60s or 70s and has made only a handful of public appearances since taking power in 2016, rules by decree from the Taliban's spiritual heartland of Kandahar.

He has spearheaded the regime's most repressive measures, particularly those aimed at removing women from public life under what the United Nations has labeled "gender apartheid." His leadership has been a source of growing international condemnation, culminating in the issuance of an international arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for the crime against humanity of persecuting women and girls.

The second recent decree from Akhundzada, the order to round up mentally ill patients, has raised even more profound and immediate concerns among human rights observers. The announcement was made by Abdul Manan Shahidzada, the head of the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Daikundi province.

Speaking to state radio, he confirmed that the initiative had already begun in his province and that the decree, issued on August 29, tasked all provincial offices of the notorious ministry with identifying and "collecting" patients.

The stated rationale for this nationwide roundup, according to Shahidzada, is to "maintain social order, prevent urban problems and address the condition of mentally ill patients." He stated that those who are collected will be handed over to the Taliban-controlled Red Crescent and other organizations.

However, given the Taliban's documented history of brutality and its often-violent enforcement of social norms, this announcement has been met with significant alarm. These fears are grounded in recent and specific examples of the group's treatment of vulnerable people.

Just last October, Taliban members shot and killed a 22-year-old mentally ill man who had reportedly blocked them from entering his home, an incident that witnesses said occurred after the fighters had attempted to forcibly take him to their checkpoint.

These two directives, the severing of the nation's digital lifeline and the state-sanctioned collection of its most mentally vulnerable citizens, paint a grim picture of a regime moving with increasing confidence to impose its absolute and uncompromising vision on a captive population.

Under the iron-fisted and reclusive leadership of Hibatullah Akhundzada, Afghanistan is not only being cut off from the world but is also seeing the state's coercive power turned inward, with the "prevention of vice" now extending to the control of information and the forcible institutionalization of those deemed a threat to "social order."