Syria cut off from the Internet, say U.S. tech firms. Internet blackout may be an indication of an impending military offensive.

Syria was cut off from the Internet on Tuesday, according to U.S. tech firms monitoring Web traffic and the State Department.

The reasons were not immediately clear, but a similar blackout happened last November, reported AFP.

“Syria is currently experiencing an internet blackout as of this afternoon,” a State Department tweet said.

Umbrella Security Labs reported a “significant drop in traffic from Syria” starting around 18:45 GMT.

“On closer inspection it seems Syria has largely disappeared from the Internet,” Umbrella’s Dan Hubbard said, according to AFP.

A similar picture came from Google through its Transparency Report on Web traffic and Web monitoring firms Akamai and Renesys.

According to activists, sudden communication cuts may occur before major military offensives.