Cell phone and internet services were restored in Afghanistan on Wednesday, local residents said - around 48 hours after diplomatic and industry sources said connectivity was abruptly cut on the orders of the Taliban administration.
The cell phone services of Roshan and Etisalat companies, the foreign-owned biggest providers, came back to life in the late afternoon, according to residents in Kabul and other cities.
Internet access was restored, companies providing the service said.
The ruling Taliban did not provide a reason for the services going down or their restoration, but one Taliban source in the information department said there were technical reasons for the outage and that services would be quickly restored.
Reuters could not verify his information.
He did not respond to a request for comment on whether the Taliban had ordered the outage.
The United Nations (UN) had called for connectivity to be reinstated.
The outage, which started on Monday, follows a series of hard-line restrictions this year, including an internet ban across a swathe of the country's north, and a ban on playing chess that was imposed for fears it was giving rise to gambling.
The outage had caused chaos, with financial remittances, trade with neighbouring countries and the operations of banks paralysed, while many Afghans were left stranded after flights cancelled.
Online learning by teenage girls and women, an education lifeline after they were banned from high schools and universities, was also brought to a stop.
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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has accused the U.S. and Israel of seeking to foment internal divisions in Iran after failing to defeat the country militarily, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel may participate in the investigation into a serious incident aboard a flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv, while investigators examine the motive of the co-pilot involved.
Passengers restrained a flydubai co-pilot who allegedly stabbed the pilot and tried to crash a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday.
North Korea has dismissed as a “farce” Seoul’s claim that Pyongyang was responsible for a landmine explosion south of the Military Demarcation Line that injured three South Korean soldiers.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 30 September 2026. These are the top five stories making headlines in Europe.
Türkiye’s flagship aviation and technology festival entered its second day on Thursday, bringing young innovators and leading domestic defence firms together in the south-eastern city of Şanlıurfa.
Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan’s Kunar and Helmand provinces killed nine civilians, including women and children, and injured 11 others, Afghanistan’s government said, as tensions between the neighbours deepen.
Britain says there are “strong indications” Iran played a role in a suspected plot targeting RAF Fairford, a military base in western England used by U.S. forces for operations against Iran.
Iraqis celebrated the departure of U.S forces after more than two decades of war on Wednesday, but the withdrawal is also raising concerns about the country’s ability to maintain security without a Western military presence.
Explosions were heard overnight in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, as an opposition source claimed drone strikes targeted military sites, raising fears that renewed fighting in the north could spread beyond the front lines.
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