Dubai: Undersea cable cuts in the Red Sea have disrupted internet access across parts of Asia and the Middle East, though the cause of the damage remains unclear, experts said Sunday.

There has been speculation that Yemen’s Houthi rebels, engaged in attacks aimed at pressuring Israel over the Gaza conflict, may be behind the disruption. However, the Houthis have previously denied targeting undersea cables.

Microsoft noted on its status page that the Middle East “may experience increased latency due to undersea fiber cuts in the Red Sea,” adding that internet traffic bypassing the region “is not impacted.”

NetBlocks, an internet monitoring group, confirmed the outages and reported that connectivity in multiple countries, including India and Pakistan, was degraded. The group blamed “failures affecting the SMW4 and IMEWE cable systems near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.”

The South East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 4 cable is operated by Tata Communications, part of the Indian conglomerate, while the India-Middle East-Western Europe cable is managed by a consortium led by Alcatel-Lucent.

Pakistan Telecommunications Co. Ltd. acknowledged the cuts on Saturday, while Saudi authorities have not publicly addressed the disruption. In the UAE, users on state-owned Du and Etisalat networks reported slower speeds, though the government has yet to comment.

Subsea cables can be accidentally severed by ship anchors or intentionally damaged. The current cuts occur as Yemen’s Houthis continue attacks linked to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Israel has responded with airstrikes targeting rebel leadership.

In early 2024, Yemen’s internationally recognised government alleged that the Houthis had planned attacks on Red Sea undersea cables. While several cables were cut, the rebels denied responsibility. On Sunday, the Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel confirmed the outages, citing NetBlocks.

From November 2023 to December 2024, the Houthis attacked more than 100 ships with missiles and drones, sinking four vessels and killing at least eight sailors. Attacks temporarily paused during a ceasefire but resumed, with two vessels sunk in July and at least four deaths reported.