restored on Wednesday afternoon
after a two-day blackout, residents
and state media said.
(Also see: Syria cut off from global
Internet as civil war rages)
State media blamed the blackout on a
technical fault but activists and a
watchdog accused the regime of
deliberating cutting the connection to
shield military operations.
In a breaking news alert, Syrian state
television announced the Internet and
communications were back up and
running.
Landline phone services between
Syrian provinces had also been down
since Tuesday, state news agency
SANA said.
US tech firms and the US State
Department reported the blackout on
Tuesday but did not specify any
reasons for it. A similar blackout
happened last November.
"Internet services and phone calls
between provinces were cut off
Tuesday evening because of a fault in
optical fibre cables," SANA said before
service was restored.
"Efforts are ongoing to fix the faults
and to bring Internet and telephone
services back up as soon as possible,"
the agency said, quoting a
communications official.
Activists who frequently use the
Internet to report on violence
engulfing their country blamed the
authorities for the blackout.
"Even satellite communication
devices" used by many anti-regime
activists to avoid surveillance "have
been slow," a Syrian activist currently
out of his country told AFP's Beirut
bureau.
"I think the regime has a plan to stage
some kind of attack. That's what
happens every time Internet goes
down," said the activist, an Internet
expert who identified himself as Fares.
The Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights said the blackout appeared to
be a deliberate act to help regime
forces carrying out military operations.
The United States also voiced concern.
"We condemn any effort by any group
to restrict or eliminate the Syrian
people's access to information and
communications of any kinds," Patrick
Ventrell, the deputy State Department
spokesman, said in Washington.
"These shutdowns are hard to
attribute to one side or the other, and
technical groups are analyzing them.
But the regime has a history of
restricting the Internet in a range of
ways to prevent the Syrian people
from accessing and sharing
information."
Syria is ranked 176 out of 179
countries in a worldwide press
freedom index compiled by
international press freedom watchdog
Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
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