At Kabul International Airport, there are dozens of confused looking families.
Many are holding flowers, waiting and hoping their loved ones will touch down.
Others came here hoping to take-off but are now sitting bewildered in the hot sun.
After the Taliban imposed a nationwide shutdown of the internet, no one knows if any flights are still operating and no one can use their phones to find out.
“I am waiting for my brother from Australia,” one man tells me, “but I don’t know if he’s coming”.
Beyond the gates, the runway is full of grounded planes.
After hours of waiting on Tuesday, no international flights took off or arrived at Kabul Airport, despite some airlines scheduling departures.
The Taliban caught many in the country off-guard with their shutdown – reportedly even some of their own ministers.
Initially, there appeared to be no official indication of how long the shutdown might last or an explanation for why it was imposed.
A man tries to use Google on his smartphone in the Afghan capital. Pic: Reuters
On Wednesday, the Taliban government rejected reports of a nationwide internet ban, saying old fibre optic cables are worn out and are being replaced.
But, at the airport, people worry it could be indefinite. Others speculate about rumours it’s to do with security protocols and the movement of officials in the country.
No one knows, and the TV and radio stations they get their news from have not been providing the latest information.
Men try to connect their smart TV to the internet. Pic: Reuters
The banks are open but no one can get out money. An employee at the bank in our hotel in Kabul told us they haven’t been able to open their operating systems since Tuesday morning and that Western Union isn’t accessible either.
That’s hugely significant in a country where many are reliant on money sent back by relatives abroad and banks are already struggling with sanctions.
No one can call the police, no one can call an ambulance, and hospitals and medical services are wrestling with how to adjust too.
It follows more than a week of temporary connectivity issues in some parts of the country, with the northern region of Balkh among the first to be affected by a ban on fibre optic internet.
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Taliban fighters ride on a pickup truck during celebrations marking the fourth anniversary of the US withdrawal. Pic: AP
In the last 10 days, we have been travelling across Afghanistan. People in Nangarhar, Kunar, Mazar-i-Sharif and Herat all expressed concern about possible impending blackouts, and we personally experienced a slowdown in connectivity in these places. But nothing as widespread or sustained as this shutdown which is nationwide.
Two weeks ago, the Taliban’s provincial government spokesman Haji Attaullah Zaid said leader Hibatullah Akhundzada had imposed a “complete ban” on cable internet access in Balkh.
“This measure was taken to prevent immorality, and an alternative will be built within the country for necessities,” Mr Zaid said.
It was said to be connected to concerns around pornography – but this was never officially stated by the Taliban.
We have tried to reach the government for comment via satellite phone but with no success.
No one knows how long the shutdown will last. Pic: Reuters
The blackout has disrupted phone services. In countries with limited telecom infrastructure, phone networks are often routed through fibre-optic systems which have now been disabled.
The lack of connectivity has raised immediate concern in the aid community. Amnesty International called it “reckless” and said the shutdown would have “far-reaching consequences for the delivery of aid, access to healthcare and girls’ education”.
After the Taliban banned school for girls over the age of 12, many in the country have been secretly studying online.
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Everyone we’ve spoken to seems dumbfounded.
During the previous temporary blackouts, the Taliban did warn more was to come. But no one appears to have anticipated this – not ordinary citizens, not foreign officials here in Kabul, not big business, not the airlines or the hospitals.
It is an indication of how quickly this country can turn and the power the Taliban has to disrupt and reshape its future.
Internationally, many are raising concerns that this is an attempt by the Taliban at widespread censorship and further restriction of girls’ education.
Whatever the intention of their move, it has created an extreme scenario: no one in this country can currently contact anyone – for an emergency, for a family member, or for guidance – creating a major information vacuum.
