Afghan Women Face Despair as Taliban Shuts Down Internet

Mon Oct 20 2025 22:58:31 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

The Taliban's latest internet shutdown has snuffed out the last hope for many Afghan women seeking education and employment opportunities, leaving them stranded and hopeless.

As the Taliban enforces an indefinite internet shutdown across Afghanistan, women like Fahima and Shakiba, who relied on online education, express their despair over losing their only connection to learning and personal advancement. The government's actions have disrupted daily life, educational pursuits, and essential services, deepening the challenges faced by Afghan citizens under the new regime.

Fahima Noori had big dreams when she graduated from university in Afghanistan. She had studied law, graduated from a midwifery programme, and even worked in a mental health clinic. But all that was taken away when the Taliban swept into power in 2021. They banned girls over the age of 12 from getting an education, severely restricted job options for women, and recently removed books written by women from universities.

For Fahima, the internet was her last lifeline to the outside world. I recently enrolled in an online university [and] I had hoped to finish my studies and find an online job, she said. On Tuesday, that lifeline was cut off when the Taliban imposed a nationwide internet shutdown that is set to last indefinitely. Our last hope was online learning. Now [even] that dream has been destroyed, said Fahima.

Over the past few weeks, the Taliban began severing fibre-optic internet connections across several provinces, claiming it was part of an effort to prevent immorality. Their worst fears materialized when the country experienced a total internet blackout, impacting essential services and leaving many without contact with the capital Kabul.

For those like Shakiba from the northern province of Takhar, this internet outage derailed their lives: We want to study. We want to be educated. When I heard that the internet had been cut, the world felt dark to me, she lamented.

It's a similar story for teachers and students alike. Zabi, who previously taught English online, expressed heartache over his students missing an important standardized test due to the shutdown. Without the internet, educational opportunities for women continue to dwindle as barriers to success grow larger.

The Taliban, who have not officially explained the internet shutdown, previously indicated a desire to create alternative routes for access without further details. In a country where per capita income is approximately $306, the options for remaining connected are often financially out of reach. Many fear for the future of their education and careers as hope fades amidst growing restrictions.