Angry Root's LJ

1 hour, 37 minutes ago

YANGON (AFP) - After two days of unrest in Yangon's streets, Myanmar's main link to the Internet has stopped working, according to a telecom official who blamed the problem on a damaged cable.

"The Internet is not working because the underwater cable is damaged," an official with Myanmar Post and Telecoms told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Myanmar's Internet service is tightly controlled and only sporadically available even in the best of times, but the military has tightened its controls amid anti-government protests.

In Bangkok, an official at a Thai telecom that provides satellite services to Myanmar also said some Internet service inside the country had been cut.

One western source inside Myanmar said she had not been able to access emails or Internet since late morning.

Most businesses in downtown Yangon, including Internet cafes, were closed Friday, following a two-day crackdown on anti-government protests that has left at least 13 dead and hundreds more behind bars.

Even a partial Internet shutdown could reduce the number of photos and videos of the crackdown that have been transmitted by journalists, activists and bloggers.

Anonymous bloggers have helped send a flood of photos to the rest of the world documenting the violence.

The military government has repeatedly accused foreign media of instigating the protests.

Via Yahoo! News via AFP

AFP/File Photo: Buddhist monks sit inside an Internet shop run on a generater in Yangon, 10 April...