Taliban Cut Wi-Fi in Herat For Second Night Without Explanation

In an interview with Al Arabiya, Mujahid urged the US to engage with Afghans through diplomatic and reational channels, adding that Afghans will not accept foreign forces on any part of Afghanistan.

Trump last week warned that “bad things will happen” if the Taliban do not hand the base back to the United States. Bagram, located 11 kilometres southeast of Charikar in Parwan province, was the largest American military base in Afghanistan until the US withdrawal in 2021, when it was seized by the Taliban.

The comments are the latest in a series of Taliban responses to Trump’s remarks. Taliban Deputy intelligence chief Tajmir Jawad threatened to resume suicide attacks if necessary to defend the group’s rule, while the Taliban’s army chief said Afghans had “fought well” against efforts to undermine the country’s independence.

The quake struck at 3:21 p.m. local time, according to the US Geological Survey, which reported its epicentre near Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, at a depth of 10 kilometres.

The Taliban governor’s office in Nangarhar said the injuries occurred in Dara-e-Noor district, where several houses were also damaged.

Officials said the injured were taken to a regional hospital, where their conditions were reported as stable.

Officials from television stations and YouTube channels were summoned by the ministry and ordered to comply with the restriction, participants in the meeting told reporters.

Some media representatives argued that the ban should not apply to private outlets in Herat while Taliban-run state television in Kabul continues to air such content. YouTubers present at the meeting said their broadcasts primarily target audiences outside Afghanistan.

Despite the objections, Taliban officials insisted the ban on live broadcasting would be enforced. One Herat media source said local outlets would only accept the order if it were implemented uniformly across the country.

The Taliban have previously imposed similar restrictions in Kabul and other provinces. Herat is home to Afghanistan’s second-largest concentration of visual media outlets after the capital Kabul.

Trade between the two countries reached $143 million in August 2025, a 4 precent increase from July, according to figures reported by The Nation newspaper. Imports from Afghanistan rose from $37 million in July to $55 million in August, while Pakistan’s exports fell 13 precent, from $102 million to $88 million. Year-on-year, exports slipped 1 precent, from $89 million in August 2024 to $88 million this year.

Overall bilateral trade in the first two months of the 2025–26 financial year (July and August) totalled $282 million, up 1 precent from the same period a year earlier. Pakistan’s exports dipped slightly from $193 million to $190 million, while imports from Afghanistan increased from $85 million to $91 million.

The rise in imports was driven largely by agricultural products. Apricot imports jumped 382 precent, from $4.15 million to nearly $20 million. Imports of grapes rose 96 precent, tomatoes 46 precent and cucumbers 15 precent. By contrast, shipments of onions, spices, coal and cotton fell.

On the export side, Pakistan recorded gains in several sectors: fruit and vegetables climbed 227 precent, animal and vegetable oils 187 precent, aluminium 81 precent, cement 79 precent and pharmaceuticals 23 precent. Exports of rice, motorcycles, electrical appliances and processed food declined.

Analysts said that while the trade balance has shifted in Afghanistan’s favour, overall volumes have remained stable so far this financial year.

Separately, Iran announced Monday that its exports to Afghanistan grew by 30 percent in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2024.

Fixed internet connections were cut from 8 p.m. Monday until 8 a.m. Tuesday, sources at local providers told Afghanistan International. Services resumed in the morning, but the reason for the blackout was not immediately clear.

The move comes as the Taliban have blocked fibre-optic internet in several provinces over the past 10 days, prompting some areas, including Herat, to rely on DSL connections via landlines.

A Herat-based source said the outage did not appear linked to Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada’s order to suspend fibre-optic internet nationwide and was likely imposed for security reasons.

It was the first time the Taliban had ordered a complete overnight internet shutdown in a province. Before returning to power in 2021, the group often pressured telecom companies in rural areas to cut service at night.

The Taliban’s wider curbs on internet access have drawn widespread criticism and caused severe disruption to daily life across Afghanistan.