The Zimbabwean government ordered another complete shutdown of Internet services from Thursday night to disrupt communication among protesters demonstrating against fuel price hikes and rising living costs.

The country's biggest mobile network operator Econet told subscribers early Friday morning that the government had issued another order which it had to comply with.

"The earlier directives are already the subject of a pending High Court application. We sincerely apologize for all inconvenience caused by the acts of government which are beyond our reasonable control," the operator said.

This follows an earlier blackout of more than 24 hours between Tuesday and Wednesday.

Social media platforms including WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook remained shut after the government believed that protesters were exchanging information to carry on with their activities.

However, Internet users could still communicate on WhatsApp and another platform called Telegram after installing VPNs on their smartphones. This may have prompted the government to order the second Internet blackout.