Afghanistan regains internet access amid confusion over who was responsible for blackout

Afghanistan is gradually getting back online, Taliban officials said, following a sweeping cut in cell phone and internet services that affected everything from banking to travel to aid work.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Afghanistan is gradually getting back online, Taliban officials said, following a sweeping cut in cell phone and internet services that affected everything from banking to travel to aid work.

“Following a major technical disruption in Afghanistan’s mobile networks, phone call services have now begun to be gradually restored,” the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture said in a statement Wednesday, adding that teams were “working round-the-clock to ensure the complete restoration of services.”

“Users in some provinces have confirmed that mobile call connectivity has resumed, though difficulties persist in certain areas,” the ministry said.

Afghan men using their mobile phones in Kabul on Wednesday.Wakil Kohsar / AFP via Getty ImagesInternet watchdog NetBlocks said Wednesday that there was “partial restoration of internet connectivity,” two days after it said Afghanistan was “in the midst of a total internet blackout.”

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan also said Wednesday that the telecommunications outage appeared to have been reversed, with services resuming across the nation of more than 40 million people.