Myanmar authorities have ordered telecoms companies to shut down internet services in conflict-torn Rakhine amid heightening tensions in the region, where government troops are fighting ethnic rebels.
Telenor Group said the Ministry of Transport and Communications directed all telecoms companies to "temporarily" suspend internet services in nine townships in Rakhine and neighbouring Chin states, citing "disturbances of peace and use of internet activities to coordinate illegal activities".
The shutdown went into effect late on Friday, the statement said.
A transport and communications ministry spokesman declined to comment.
The western 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.
UN investigators have called for senior military officers to be prosecuted over allegations of mass killings, gang rapes and arson.
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 state autonomy.
Since November, the fighting has displaced tens of thousands of people across a large part of central and northern Rakhine and part of neighbouring Chin.
Australian Associated Press
