DAMASCUS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Syria experienced a nationwide internet outage Tuesday following a deliberate act of sabotage targeting critical telecommunications infrastructure, local reports said.

According to a report by Voice of the Capital, a local monitoring group, which cited an official source from the communications authorities, the blackout began at 3:00 a.m. local time (0000 GMT) and was caused by the intentional severing of fiber optic cables in at least two locations in central and southern Syria.

While not all optical cables were damaged, technical teams have been deployed to repair the affected lines. Authorities expected internet services to gradually resume and return to normal by Tuesday evening, it added.

It did not say if any investigation into the sabotage was launched.

Meanwhile, Sham TV, a private satellite channel in Syria, reported that the disruption has impacted both major telecom providers, MTN and Syriatel.

Although partial connectivity has been restored in some areas of Damascus, the majority of Syria's governorates remain offline as restoration efforts continue, it added. Enditem

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