The internet has been cut off and mobile phones have been disrupted in Syria, monitoring firms have said.

Networking firm Renesys said the country’s connection protocols were unreachable, “effectively removing the country from the internet”.

Local reports suggested that the internet had been down since early afternoon, and that telephone lines were only working intermittently.

The Syrian government has blamed “terrorists” for the disconnection.

“The terrorists targeted the internet lines, resulting in some regions being cut off,” Syria’s minister of information told a pro-government television station.

According to activists, it has been known for similar communication cuts to occur in isolated areas before military operations.

Amnesty International has described the reports as “very disturbing”.

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