24 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Chadian authorities are trying to recover Internet connectivity in the country after a total blackout of several hours on Sunday, apparently connected to the situation in Sudan, the scene since April 15 of fighting between the Army and the paramilitary Security Forces. Rapid Support (RSF).
The Chad Information and Communication Technologies Regulation Authority (Arcep) has confirmed that “dysfunctionalities” were recorded in the Internet service on Sunday, according to the Tchad Infos news portal.
“It was due to technical problems on two lines, mainly the one that connects Adré and N’Djamena and the one between Kousserie and N’Djamena,” he stated, before stressing that “the technicians are working to remedy this dysfunction as soon as possible.”
Likewise, the NetBlocks organization, dedicated to monitoring network connectivity, has indicated that “Internet connectivity is being restored in Chad after a multi-hour nationwide blackout linked to the (Internet) blackout in Sudan.”
“The incident has been attributed to the cutting of the fiber infrastructure that supplies Chad from Sudan and Cameroon. Now the satellites are activated,” he said, according to a series of messages posted on his account on the social network Twitter.
NetBlocks has also stressed that “Sudan is still largely ‘offline'”, with connectivity “two percent above usual levels”. “The Army alleges that paramilitary forces have sabotaged the telecommunications hub in Khartoum,” he added.
The hostilities broke out in the context of an increase in tensions around the integration of the RSF –led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, alias ‘Hemedti’, who is also vice president of the Sovereign Transition Council– within the Forces Armed Forces, a key part of an agreement signed in December to form a new civilian government and reactivate the transition.
The talks process began with international mediation after the head of the Army and president of the Sovereign Transition Council, Abdelfatá al Burhan, led a coup in October 2021 that overthrew the then prime minister of unity, Abdalá Hamdok, appointed to the charge as a result of contacts between civilians and the military after the April 2019 riot, which ended 30 years of the regime of Omar Hasan al Bashir.
