Citizens in South Sudan’s border town of Morobo in Central Equatoria region have protested a shutdown in telephone communications network, effectively affecting communication services in the area. Multiple residents and local officials have confirmed on Saturday reports that telephone operators have been out of service for the last few days after government forces clashed with gunmen in the region. Zain, MTN, and Vivacell networks have been off service for more a week in the area. Multiple sources claimed that the government had ordered all the operators in the area to shut down the entire communications network and allow state headquarters Network only to operate. “It has been more than three days trying to reach my family unsuccessfully. I don’t know what they are thinking about now, how they are doing. I just need to know their situation but my efforts have been unsuccessful because the network is down. I don’t know whether it was closed down deliberately or something connected to administrative matters. There is no any mobile network which is serviceable”, said Moses Duku, a local administrative officer from Morobo. Meanwhile another citizen in Budi County in Namurnyang state, Eastern Equatoria, said separately that the area has also been experiencing telephone communications network blackout during the past few days. “In my county, Budi County, we had two carriers, Zain and MTN. Both have gone off air for three weeks now. We are completely cut off from our loved ones because of lack of communication. It's worrying what this government is trying to do”, a citizen identifying himself as Richard Edward, commented on his face book account on Saturday. Richard did not elaborate on the cause