Afghans have also reported connectivity issues in Kandahar and Herat provinces, according to local news reports.

The Taliban, who rule Afghanistan under their strict interpretation of Islamic religious law, did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the policy.

The WiFi ban appeared to take Afghan government workers in Balkh province by surprise, said one local employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists. He and other government workers were still able to communicate via mobile internet, he said, but he was worried about unconfirmed reports that the ban could be extended to other provinces.

An internet shutdown could pose major challenges for ongoing efforts to provide education to Afghan women and girls.

For many Afghan women, the internet has been an escape amid increasingly draconian restrictions following the Taliban’s return to power in Kabul in 2021.

The Taliban have banned women from education above sixth grade and have placed restrictions on their freedom of movement, among many other rules.

In response, many women have attended online classes, learned foreign languages with the help of e-books and traded cryptocurrencies in the hope of becoming financially independent. Some have tried to make up for the closing of movie theaters, the shuttering of gyms for women and the banning of music by turning to YouTube videos.

Foreign nongovernmental organizations have subsidized mobile data packages for Afghan students, which appear to be unaffected by the internet ban Tuesday.

“We were in the process of supplying computers and wireless internet to the students who are enrolled in these credit-bearing American-originated classes, and I have absolutely no idea right now how they can possibly continue as full-time college students with no connection from Afghanistan,” Ferriss said, adding that the surge of people turning to internet via cellular networks had apparently slowed those connections “enormously.”

A student in the organization’s college preparatory program, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal, said she has been unable to upload assignments or participate in classes. The student, who said she was in her second year of medical school before the Taliban regained power, is scheduled to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language, or TOEFL, next month, an admissions requirement for universities abroad. But the TOEFL testing centers have also lost connectivity, the student said, making it impossible for her to take the exam.

There were early signs that the Taliban were seeking tighter control of the Afghan internet. In interviews last year, Afghan YouTubers recalled tightening censorship and increasing restrictions.

“Of course we want filters that reflect our Islamic values, but it’s expensive — and right now money is tight,” Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief government spokesman, told The Washington Post last year. He added that the regime wants to stop users from “wasting their time.”

Meanwhile, the Taliban regime has begun to enforce new rules under which anyone who buys a SIM card for a cellphone can no longer remain anonymous and must provide an identity card.

The internet shutdown could be connected to lingering competition for power between the hard-line Taliban leadership in Kandahar and the regime’s more pragmatic officials who are tasked with running the country on a day-to-day basis from Kabul.

Kandahar’s push for strict rules has repeatedly resulted in crackdowns, including one last year on photos or videos showing “living beings.” But Taliban officials in many provinces have often ignored these rules, feeding a widespread assumption among many Afghans and international observers that the regime remains divided internally.

But for who rely on the internet for work or education, a ban at the provincial level could have drastic impact, even if other Taliban factions oppose it.

Haq Nawaz Khan contributed to this report.