Internet Back On In Damascus, Homs After Days Without Connection

Internet Is Working Again In Syria's Capital
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An image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube on March 24, 2012 shows smoke billowing from reported shelling by Syrian regime forces in the Khalidiya district of the flashpoint city of Homs. Powerful blasts rocked Homs as Syria's regime pressed its assault on protest hubs, while rebels attacked a military base near the capital, activists and monitors said. AFP PHOTO/YOUTUBE == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT 'AFP PHOTO / YOUTUBE' - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - AFP IS USING PICTURES FROM ALTERNATIVE SOURCES AS IT WAS NOT AUTHORISED TO COVER THIS EVENT, THEREFORE IT IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DIGITAL ALTERATIONS TO THE PICTURE'S EDITORIAL CONTENT, DATE AND LOCATION WHICH CANNOT BE INDEPENDENTLY VERIFIED == (Photo credit should read -/AFP/GettyImages)

BEIRUT, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The Internet was working in Syria's capital of Damascus and the central city of Homs on Saturday, residents said, after a two-day blackout that experts said was highly likely to have been caused by authorities.

President Bashar al-Assad's government has been accused before of cutting Internet and telephone connections to block opposition activist and rebel communications during the 20-month-old revolt.

Authorities had attributed the latest outage to a "terrorist" attack or a technical fault.

"Most people have Internet in the capital now," a resident, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters over Skype, adding that he was speaking to his friends in Syria using social media.

It was not immediately clear if the Internet was operating countrywide but two activists from the central city of Homs said the service had resumed.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition-linked violence monitoring organisation, said connectivity had returned to most provinces.

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