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Myanmar orders internet shutdown in conflict-torn Rakhine state

22 June 2019 19:52 (UTC +04:00)

Myanmar authorities ordered telecoms companies to shut down internet services in conflict-torn western Myanmar, a leading operator said on Saturday, amid heightening tensions in the region, where government troops are fighting ethnic rebels, APA reports citing Reuters.

Telenor Group said the Ministry of Transport and Communications directed all telecoms companies to “temporarily” suspend internet services in nine townships in Rakhine and neighboring Chin states, citing “disturbances of peace and use of internet activities to coordinate illegal activities”.

At a press conference on Saturday, a military spokesman said the army had no information about the shutdown.

“We didn’t do it. We don’t know about that,” said Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun.

The shutdown went into effect late on Friday, the Telenor statement said.

“Telenor Myanmar has been asking for further clarification on the rationale for the shutdown and emphasized that freedom of expression through access to telecom services should be maintained for humanitarian purposes,” the group said.

A spokesman for the transport and communications ministry declined to comment, referring questions to another spokesman who did not answer phone calls.

Rakhine state came to global attention after about 730,000 Rohingya Muslims crossed into Bangladesh fleeing a military crackdown in response to militant attacks in 2017.

U.N. investigators have called for senior military officers to be prosecuted over allegations of mass killings, gang rapes and arson. The military denies widespread wrongdoing.

More recently, civilians have been caught up in clashes between the military and the Arakan Army, an insurgent group that recruits from the mainly Buddhist ethnic Rakhine population and is fighting for greater autonomy for the state.