Electricity supply has reportedly been cut across the whole of Syria

Thomson Reuters

A man walks on the rubble of damaged buildings in the rebel-controlled area of Jobar, a suburb of Damascus

Syrian state media said on Thursday the electricity network was down across the whole of the country for unknown reasons and that Internet connections were also partly down.

"The electricity network has been cut in all governorates," state news agency SANA said, reporting a source in the Ministry for Electricity.

"Attempts to find out the cause of the outage have begun."

A Reuters witness confirmed that electricity had been cut in Damascus.

State media also reported that Internet services were partially disrupted.

Blackouts have become common for Syrians as fighting has raged throughout the country over the last five years, but it is rare for the whole country to be affected.