Taliban authorities on Monday imposed a nationwide shutdown of communications, weeks after they began severing fibre optic connections to prevent "vice". Connectivity was operating at less than one percent of its normal levels, according to internet watchdog Netblocks, who called it a "comprehensive, or total blackout". Over the past weeks, internet connections have been extremely slow or intermittent. On September 16, Balkh provincial spokesman Attaullah Zaid said fibre optic internet was completely banned in northern province on the Taliban leader's orders. It is the first time since the Taliban government won their insurgency in 2021 that communications have been shutdown in the country.