Afghanistan’s main airport has come to a halt as the country deals with the impact of a nationwide internet blackout imposed by the Taliban.

The government has not provided an official explanation for the shutdown, which began Monday and is expected to continue indefinitely.

The United Nations warned that the move could cause serious harm, according BBC News.

The disruption has severely affected communication within Afghanistan and with the outside world, as well as critical services such as banking, payments, and online education, an essential resource for many women and girls.

Kabul airport, meanwhile, was described by a resident as “nearly deserted,” with no visible signs of planes arriving or departing.

Flight tracking service Flightradar24 reported that several flights to and from Kabul were canceled on Tuesday, while many others were listed with an “unknown” status.

A passenger scheduled to arrive at Kabul International Airport on Tuesday was informed that no flights would operate until at least Thursday. Another local resident said all flights from the airport had been canceled since Monday evening.

Despite these disruptions, he noted that daily life in Kabul “seems to be normal,” though there is “no communication at all” across the country.

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan urged the Taliban to immediately and fully restore nationwide internet and telecommunications services.

“The cut in access has left Afghanistan almost completely cut off from the outside world, and risks inflicting significant harm on the Afghan people, including by threatening economic stability and exacerbating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises,” it said in a statement.

For weeks, the Taliban government has been cutting fibre-optic internet connections in several provinces.

The restrictions initially affected only a few regions, but the capital, Kabul, was hit on Monday.

Several residents told the BBC that their fibre-optic internet stopped working late in the day, around 17:00 local time (12:30 GMT).