BBC News - Syria crisis: Daily life during Damascus blackouthttp://bbc.in/Rrpu8i
1:05 PM - 1 Dec 12 · Details
By Lina SinjabBBC News, Damascus
Basic supplies are not a pressing issue in Damascus - for now (file picture)
It has been three days away from the virtual world of the internet in Damascus; no email, no Facebook, no Twitter or Skype.
The only facts we had were the smoke that we see from our balconies and the non-stop sounds of shelling and warplanes flying across suburbs of Damascus.
Even on mobile phones, it was hard to get through. You were lucky to communicate with those living in the same area of Damascus, let alone other parts of the country.
Contact with the outside world was even tougher - colleagues had to try several times to get through to me, and I could make no international calls.
People are going back to the old ways of checking in on each other - landline phones or visiting each other door-to-door.
But if you're visiting someone after 18:00, you stay with your host rather than venture back out - a sense of caution is hanging over Damascus.
This has been the hardest time here - and we've seen the most intensive firing from government forces.
The bombardment of Damascus' suburbs, with MiG warplanes and helicopter gunships, has been unprecedented.
As for the shutdown, the government said it was was the work of "terrorists" but sources have told me it was an official move to limit rebel communications and the flow of information out of the country.
For now, basic supplies are not a pressing problem in Damascus - but every time you go to a store, there will be something missing from the shelves.
The capital is supplied by its suburbs but the violence and the shutdown of some of the factories there have caused shortages.
In addition, the prices of petrol and diesel, which many people use to heat their houses, have shot up.
And there have also been reports that security have been going door-to-door in certain neighbourhoods, checking for involvement with the rebels.
