(Reuters) -At least 14 flights scheduled to operate out of Kabul airport on Wednesday were cancelled, with the status of other flights unclear, data from plane tracker Flightradar24 showed, following an internet shutdown in Afghanistan.
Growing chaos from the Taliban administration’s order on Monday to cut internet and cell phone connections has hit banks, aid work, businesses, and the ability of Afghans to connect with family and friends. It has also left many stranded in Afghanistan, with flights cancelled.
The Taliban administration has not explained the connectivity blackout and Reuters was unable to reach them for comment. The United Nations has called for services to be restored.
In the past, the Taliban have voiced concern about online pornography, and authorities cut fibre-optic links to some provinces in recent weeks, with officials citing morality concerns.
Out of the total 34 flights that were slated to fly in and out of Kabul on Wednesday, four departures and ten arrivals were cancelled. On Tuesday, 10 flights out of 31 scheduled were called off. The status of the remaining 21 flights from Tuesday were labelled “unknown” on the Flightradar24 website. Many flights scheduled to operate out of other provincial airports, such as Herat and Kandahar, for Tuesday and Wednesday were also labelled “unknown”.
Mohammad Bashir, a representative of Kam Air, an Afghan domestic and international carrier, told the country’s Tolo News channel that just one flight had run since the internet blackout. He said that before a plane takes off, they must share flight information online with the destination airport, which was not now possible.
He hoped that operations could restart on Wednesday.
“This is important for our fellow citizens who had transit flights and for those who were stranded trying to return. We must restart operations for their sake,” Bashir said.
(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee and Mohammad Yunus Yawar; writing by Saeed Shah;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
