A massive cyber attack has cut Internet connectivity in Myanmar, just three days before the nation’s first election in 20 years.
Web users had reported slow connections and occasional outages for more than a week, but by Thursday, network traffic was completely halted, the BBC reported. Web service providers said outside attackers were to blame, but some residents suspected the military-ruled nation’s government was behind the troubles.
“I think they have been doing it intentionally for the election day to delay news from reaching the international community,” Kyaw Kyaw, a 25-year-old university student in the main city of Yangon, told Agence-France Presse.
No foreign journalists have been allowed into Myanmar to cover the polls, which Western governments have criticized as a ploy to perpetuate the military’s grip on power.
Full story: Cyber attack cripples Myanmar days before vote