UN welcomes restoration of internet in Afghanistan

The United Nations has welcomed the restoration of internet and telecommunications services across Afghanistan, following a nearly 48-hour shutdown.

Stephan Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, said in a press conference on Wednesday that the communication cut had risked multiple negative impacts on the Afghan population, affecting economic stability, access to information, and the rights of women and girls.

“Humanitarian operations—including aid to earthquake victims—were severely disrupted, as UN agencies, local partners, and international organizations faced difficulties coordinating and delivering critical services.

“We welcome the reversal of this ban, and will continue to watch developments closely,” he said.

Afghanistan’s internet and telecommunications services were restored late Wednesday following an almost two-day outage across the nation.

The interruption affected multiple sectors, highlighting the country’s growing dependence on digital connectivity for daily operations.

During the outage, Afghans faced challenges in business, healthcare, flights and international communications.

Online classes were paused, businesses struggled to process transactions, and hospitals reported difficulties accessing critical medical data, including diagnostic results.

The outage also had an impact on Afghanistan’s aviation sector.

Airlines operating in the country, including Kam Air and Ariana Afghan Airlines, along with foreign carriers such as Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, and Emirates, rely on telecommunications and internet connectivity for flight scheduling, ticketing, and passenger services.