Underground telephone cables have been exposed, with part of them stolen in an area located between the localities of Manjez and Rimah, in the Akkar district. (Photo provided by Michel Hallak)
Underground phone cables were stolen on Wednesday in an area between the towns of Manjez and Rimah in the Akkar district of northern Lebanon, close to the Syrian border, cutting off several villages from phone service and internet access, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent.
Municipal police officers from Rimah, who were in the area, spotted unknown individuals attempting to steal the cables. The thieves then fled with some of the cables they had already managed to extract, leaving behind some cables they did not have time to take.
The president of the Rimah municipality, Mtanios Rai, informed the governor of Akkar, Imad Labaki, as well as the Internal Security Forces (ISF) of the incident and called for the identification of the thieves. He also alerted the management of the public phone and internet provider Ogero and urged prompt repairs to restore phone lines and internet access, now inaccessible in several areas in the region.
The theft of electrical cables and their components has been on the rise in Lebanon since the beginning of the economic crisis in 2019, as they can be sold for a high price to scrap dealers. Such incidents are often reported in various parts of the country.
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