Internet services halted across Syria

Syria, May 8 – Internet services have halted across Syria, in what appears to be the second shutdown in six months.

Web monitoring companies reported regular traffic on the internet plummeted to zero just before 19:00 GMT on Tuesday

Syria last experienced a shutdown for three days last November.

The Syrian government blamed that incident on “terrorists”, but internet experts said it was more likely that the regime had shut down the web.

President Bashar al-Assad’s government has been fighting a bloody internal conflict for two years.

Activists suggested at the time of the last internet shutdown that the regime might have been planning a major offensive, or that it might have been attempting to disrupt rebel communications. However, neither theory was substantiated.

US web companies, including Renesys and Akamai, logged the latest blackout late on Tuesday. Source: BBC