Derna residents woke up today, Tuesday, to the news that the entire telecommunications network in the city had been suddenly cut off, and in the first comment on the event, the Director of the Media Center of the Libyan Telecommunications Holding Company, Mohammed Badiri, said that damaged fiber optic cables caused the interruption of telecommunications and cut off the Internet in a number of areas in the eastern region, adding that work was underway to repair them.
Badiri added that the company had no details about the reasons for damage caused to the fiber optic cables and whether it was the result of digging or deliberate sabotage, stressing that the company was following up on the reports received from its teams on the ground.
A Derna resident reporting to the media, Jawher Ali, said the situation was concerning one week after Storm Daniel hit the city, adding on X platform that the Internet was cut off after residents had taken to streets to protest the status quo. He added foreign journalists were asked to leave the city, speaking of "fear for security operations against activists covering the city to the media."
In an attempt to justify the intention to expel foreign journalists from Derna, a minister in the east-based unrecognized government said that the authorities asked the journalists to leave because “a large number of journalists were obstructing the work of the rescue teams.”
A crowd of surviving people gathered Monday afternoon in front of Al-Sahaba Mosque in Derna demanding the overthrow of the House of Representatives and its Speaker Aqila Saleh, and the Municipal Council of the city of Derna, holding them responsible for the extent of the damage and the number of victims because of their corruption.
The Libyan Telecommunications Holding Company announced a week ago that its teams had succeeded in fully restoring phone calls and Internet networks to Derna after they were cut off for several days due to the storm.
