LONDON: Syria’s state-owned telecom operator restored internet traffic to normal capacity on Wednesday via the undersea fiber cable connecting the coastal city of Tartus with Alexandria in Egypt.
Syria Telecom announced on Monday that the Tartus-Alexandria cable had been subjected to an “act of sabotage,” affecting internet service for users across the country, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
It redirected internet traffic through the Ugarit Cable System, a 239 km undersea cable that connects Tartus to Pentaskhinos in Cyprus. It used another cable which passes through Turkiye and has been used by CereTel to provide internet to users in Aleppo since the start of June.
Syria Telecom described the act this week as part of a “systematic sabotage campaign” targeting the country’s infrastructure.
Syria is recovering from 13 years of civil war that has damaged vital sectors including banking, energy, aviation, water and transport. The country introduced contactless payments last May, catching up with the rest of the world after 15 years of isolation from international payment networks. About 66 percent of the population still lacks internet access, according to World Bank Group data.
