Sudan sees 'almost total' internet blackout as landline connections cut
Landline internet connections were down across Sudan on Monday, a week after mobile online services were cut following a deadly crackdown on protesters.
One week ago, security forces violently swept away a camp where demonstrators had been holding a sit-in outside the army headquarters in Khartoum, with over 100 people killed.
Read more: Sudan's military stages coup, ousts long-time president in face of protests
In response, the opposition called a general strike that began on Sunday, the first day of the workweek in Sudan, to keep up pressure on the military, which had cancelled a power transfer agreement that called elections within nine months following the dismissal in April of the civilian regime of Omar al-Bashir.
Opposition doctors say at least 118 people have been killed since the raid on the sit-in. The military council has confirmed 61 deaths, including three members of the security services.
Read more: Sudan denies more than 100 killed in protest crackdown
The military claimed that the protesters were escalating Sudan's political crisis and doing major harm to the country and its security by calling the strike.
Protest organisers said the campaign would run until the generals handed power to a civilian government.
'Almost total blackout'
Internet lines from the country's main provider Sudantel stopped working in the capital Khartoum in the early afternoon, an AFP correspondent said, adding the outage had affected embassies, luxury hotels and offices.