Undersea cable cuts in the Red Sea disrupted internet access in parts of Asia and the Middle East, experts said, though it wasn't immediately clear what caused the incident.
There has been concern about the cables being targeted in a Red Sea campaign by Houthis, which the group describes as an effort to pressure Israel to end its genocidal war on Gaza.
But the Houthis have denied attacking the lines in the past.
Microsoft announced via a status website that the Mideast “may experience increased latency due to undersea fibre cuts in the Red Sea.”
The Redmond, Washington-based firm did not immediately elaborate, though it said that internet traffic not moving through the Middle East “is not impacted.”
NetBlocks, which monitors internet access, said “a series of subsea cable outages in the Red Sea has degraded internet connectivity in multiple countries,” which it said included India and Pakistan.
It blamed “failures affecting the SMW4 and IMEWE cable systems near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.”
The Southeast Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 4 cable is run by Tata Communications, part of the Indian conglomerate. The India-Middle East-Western Europe cable is run by another consortium overseen by Alcatel-Lucent.
Both companies have yet to respond to inquiries.
Saudi Arabia did not immediately acknowledge the disruption, and authorities there did not respond to a request for comment.
In the United Arab Emirates, home to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, internet users on the country's state-owned Du and Etisalat networks complained of slower internet speeds.
The government did not immediately acknowledge the disruption.
Israel-Houtis fighting
The lines being cut come as Yemen's Houthis remain locked in a series of attacks targeting Israel over Tel Aviv’s 23-month-long war in Gaza.
Israel has responded with air strikes, including one that killed top leaders within the group.
In early 2024, Yemen’s internationally recognised government in exile alleged that the Houthis planned to attack undersea cables in the Red Sea.
Several were cut, but the Houthis denied being responsible.
On Sunday morning, the Houthis' al Masirah satellite news channel acknowledged that the cuts had taken place.
From November 2023 to December 2024, the Houthis targeted more than 100 ships with missiles and drones.
In their campaign so far, the Houthis have sunk four vessels and killed at least eight mariners.
The Houthis stopped their attacks during a brief ceasefire in the war.
They later became the target of an intense weeks-long campaign of air strikes ordered by US President Donald Trump before he declared a ceasefire had been reached with the group.
The Houthis sank two vessels in July, killing at least four on board, with others believed to be held by the group.
