Syria reports sabotage of undersea internet cable between Tartous and Alexandria: What to know
The affected cable connects Syria to Egypt and is one of four cables that link to the coastal city of Tartous.
Syrian authorities said on Monday that an undersea cable transmitting internet traffic between Egypt and Syria was subjected to an “act of sabotage,” affecting people's ability to use the internet.
The state-owned Syrian Telecom said the action occurred near the coastal Mediterranean city of Tartous and impacted a cable linking the locale to Alexandria, Egypt, affecting services across Syria. The company said it is seeking “specialized foreign technical expertise” to address the issue and condemned what it called a “systematic sabotage campaign” against Syria’s telecom sector, the official SANA news outlet reported.
Egypt did not immediately comment.
Why it matters: The Aletar submarine cable connects Tartous to Alexandria and is one of four cables connected to the western Syrian city. Aletar is jointly owned by Syria, Egypt and Lebanon’s telecom operators and has been operational since 1997, according to TeleGeography, a Washington-based data firm.
