LAHORE: Cellular and data services were blocked in some parts of the country, including Karachi, Lahore, Quetta and Multan, Express News reported on Sunday.
A letter issued to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority by the Ministry of Interior, directed cellular service providers to block services from 12:00 am tonight to Monday 11:00am.
However, speaking to the media Sunday night, Ministry of Interior Rehman Malik said that cellular services will be blocked till Monday 10:00 am, adding that this step had been taken to prevent terrorist attacks.
He added that terrorists usually used mobile phones to detonate explosive devices.
Malik clarified that cellular services had been resumed in Islamabad since he had ensured tight security in the capital, but would block services there too if there were reports of threats in the city.
According to reports on social media, Mobilink, Warid, Telenor, Ufone and Zong have blocked services.
Earlier, in an attempt to ensure security during the celebrations of Eidul Fitr, cellular service providers in Pakistan had been told by the Ministry of Interior that they may be asked to immediately stop services in certain areas of the country between August 19 to August 20.
According to a letter issued by the ministry’s National Crisis Management Cell to the CEOs of the companies, the authority aimed to cut off communication capabilities of miscreants and terrorists to foil their plans.
The companies have been alerted beforehand so that action can be taken promptly, the letter stated.
Earlier, the Government of Balochistan had blocked cell phone services in Quetta and its surrounding areas on Independence Day in light of the security situation in the province.
The US embassy in Islamabad had also issued a notice to its citizens in the country to be careful during Eidul Fitr as it senses potential attacks from militant and sectarian groups present in the country.
COMMENTS (79)
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What about the FAMILIES seperated and now we have no way of seeing or hearing from our loved ones to make sure they are okay? Allahu Akbar.... may Allah (swt) bless everyone and keep protecting us all, and those of us this suffering from this choice of our country.
it is high time that all pre paid sims should be blocked and converted to post paid after authentication
repected REHMAN MALIK SAHIB respected sir today i heard that ur ministry want to block all prepaid sim of mobiles.sir do it as soon as possible becoz its root cause of different crimes sir plz....... do it in ur first prefence im sure it will break the back bone of terriosts , thnkks
Blocking the mobile services in Pakistan on recently Eid and as usual on every 10th of Muharram is only the camouflaging of the government's weaknesses and demerits of controlling the terrorism and tracking the terrorists in Pakistan and by doing so the government only increases the problems and difficulties for the nation.And if this is the source of over coming and controlling the terrorism then why does it not happen in the other countries especially in India,Afghanistan,USA and Sri Lanka and why only in Pakistan??????
@Anonomous:
and you laughed when USA said we will take you to stoneage....
Link the dots. FBR. Interconnect charges. Internal mishaps in the bureaucracy. Cellular shutdown. Muscle flexing of technical ability and political linkages. Oh and commission.
Happy Blackout Mubarik. Corruption R US = current regime
No electricity. No natural gas. No water. No mobiles.
Mr Zardari ask your beloved son to have all of the above even for one hour of his life.
This is the true gift from Mr. Zardari !!!
The current regime of Pakistan is worse than any previous regimes that i have seen in my lifetime. These crooks have enslaved the whole population making them pay extortion money in the name of the government. They do not stop thieving when we sleep, they print money the whole night and when you wake up in the morning suddenly your money has lost its worth by some percent.
Block all roads, Close all shops, shutdown whole education system and bury your self in the ground is the message of this current regime.
This regime should ban food too because criminals might eat it and commit crime.
The country should be renamed to Sheepistan.
As an islamic country why do we need mobile. Sharia is what we require. Our holy warriors are been stopped to blow up innocent people in the markets so that they wont implement sharia for the whole country...lol
fire of extremism spreads more.. wake up please, or one day no latter we all will live in stone age without cell phones, schools, shopping malls ....... point to ponder
@Sarmad: True.........quality comment bro
What if I'm on the road and get hit by a bus and bystanders need to call an ambulance? I doubt there'll be a landline phone on the road?!
EID GIFT "Eidi" from Zardari & co to Pakistani's .... :)
PS: People can easily use emergency call services..So it's really not an issue..
Stop criticizing our government on this issue atleast..It's for our own safety and I think they took right decision.. @J Effendi: Do you really think that terrorists will just invent some technology in few hours ? Cmon bro m sure they make such plans months ago...M sure they just cant change their plans in such a short notice.. Good move by Rehman Malik! I'm with you..
A few hours without mobile network won't make any difference to my life..However any horrifying act of terrorists can make some one's life miserable..
its like restrict bikers to sit alone, which cant stop terrarist activities. Foolish and childish act.
I say invite Taliban for a dal party !!!
This decision may sound bitter to our nation.. But if we think for even 1 minute, you guys might find a few positives from it.
*CLARIFICATION: Terrorists do not intend to communicate through cell phones, instead they use cell phones as timers to detonate bombs. In other words: "GSM Based Controllers"
government takes away each and everything when we truly need it. In blazing summer there is no light, in cold winter there is no gas, during sehri or iftari there is no light and now on eid there is no cellphone service! We have a lovely Government!
I think terrorists are most likely to use walkie talkies and sat phones. It kinda sucks with the cell phone lines down, but where there's a will there's a way. Our Government really needs to pick up the slack and do something good for the nation at least this one time.
That's Good. But way not blocked in Islamabad........?
@Salman. For explosion, a terrorists needs a bomb, a timer and a sim. Instead of making it hard for a terrorist to get bombs and timers, this government is doing an easy job..
I think young generation and cellular companies have to sacrifice some days for security of other people. we should not be that much selfish that for one day we can live without sms or facebook. we have to bear this burden and help government make our places safe.
Why Mobile networks are blocked in Karachi as well as in many cities. My Request:
Our Government I think They Have Less Knowledge , they don't think about peoples. Atms Are not Working My EasyPaisa Transactions are still on Hold i do shopping from coming money.. I am Unable To Login My Facebook , Gmail & Other Sites Because They all need Mobile Verification And In My Area There is zero Signal. Many Peoples are worried Why signals are not comming. Many buisness transactions are still on hold because of no mobile network coverage, If some Accident take place where no One Then What will man do, if some one have no ptcl commcation & in home some Emergency will Happen What will People Do , Emergency will be any health Problem Like Heart Attack .e.t.c Our Government i think don't think about peoples who pay millions of taxes by purchasing Thing From Market or by recharging mobile cards , Taliban are too much educated they use many extras ways , i will tell you one of them , They use Ptcl Evo Usb to communicate with others via skype and any email ,social network , They are now more advance they also use satellite communication too.. and in Karachi police captured peoples who are going to shopping on bike And Make a challan from them and in that case those 2 bikes who are innocent don't know about that double sawari is banned or not and have less money so they called whom to come and pay challan to Police Officers , What our Government is doing , Our Government is still teasing peoples of Pakistanis, My Question For Government is What you want from us , Shall we die , What???? please Open Mobile Networks All So I Get Easy Paisa And Start Doing Shopping & please Upload money to Atms So i withdraw Money From Atm To do my Eid hopping.
My dear Pakistani brothers be prepared our jihadi brothers will make pakistan a truely Islamic country a and everyone in this country will be ruled with sharia laws. This army of ours thinks by stopping communicatoon lines they can stop Allah's followers from following sharis. They are wrong and will have to bow down before these holy warriors of Islam.
What else terrorists want? They have successfully blocked our communication lines. For other acts, they have unlimited resources, time and support.
Mobile sms are used as timers in bombs. Not a bad decision when terror alert is high.
imagine someone trying to call 15 or 1192 or any other service if in truble.
even if one terrorist activity is disrupted because of this ban I say its a job well done.
Get ready For Network Load Shedding Now ...... :D Ths Is Only the Trailer ..... :P :D
All the terrorists have access to satellite phones or no phones in general as most are suicide attacks, hence they know their targets. The common man suffers from this.
Well at last mobile load shedding is here....
Stupid Decision by NRO-PPP government .
This incompetent Government has taken away every happiness from the people of Pakistan.
@Howtozed: W H A T !!!!!!
ITS EID, this childish govt act only shows how desperate we are to inform the people they are trying to do something, while really doing nothing.
First load shedding, now cell shedding and then for sure comes (dal shedding)!!! Wake up Pakistan...wake up!!! If we let them take away our communications tomorrow they will take away our beloved dal!!!Wake up my fellow dal eaters/lovers!!!
Terrorist mostly use satellite phones so no use. If certain people are involved in suspicious activities they should track these people down not banning the service altogether. Next they will ban Internet with the same excuse.
seriously !!!
Have you heard of the monkey, who chopped off his master's nose to prevent landing of a fly on it!
oooo bhaii.... but it is not 12:00am yet....why now?????? ...???
They can use Pakistan postal service..... hahaha!
cant terrorists use landline phones instead?
At this moment, its a nice decision, however, for future, it needs better long term strategy instead of using these tactics...
I read somewhere that the Egyptian revolution didn't really take off until the government shut down internet access for most of the country. After that, people took to the streets to find out what was going on... and that helped grow crowds in Tahrir Square and other places throughout the country.
@Ahad: cant the terrorist use whtsapp, skype or other internet based messenger and why havent ptcl land lines been blocked ? . It appears that the government is worried of an IED (bomb) being triggered by a cellphone call. . That would also explain why land lines and internet have not been blocked.
@Mohammad Ali Siddiqui: The peace loving subscribers cell phones are standing behind the Government of Pakistan. I hope you were not smiling while writing that line :)
whatever is needed to save lives should be done!
I just subscribed 10000 sms package and now I cant send even a single message. :-(
Whats sad is that its absolutely necessary. Security has deteriorated to this point. Necessary, however does not make it right. Perhaps some day the good people of Pakistan will realize that religious extremists are not our friends, just because they fight American and Indians and we don't like Americans and Indians, given the chance they will kill you men of shaving your beard and you women for going to school. This is not some theory that I concocted, we've seen them do it when then get power. Wake up Pakistan!
ban satellite phones
cant the terrorist use whtsapp, skype or other internet based messenger and why havent ptcl land lines been blocked ?
don't worry the govt will soon see their step as very foolish and full of stupidity and will bring it back online.
@Xtreme: now I dont want to say it for security reasons.
My services are down already
@ J Effendi What is portable and safer than a mobile phone?
Hearing this news militants must be laughing. Our stupid army is good for nothing. Collaborating with americans to bomb their own country men in tribal areas is the best we can expect from them.
If government decides so then be it. We are behind our government on this!
@Rameez:
yeah why dont you give a matter idea....what should they do catch as many as they can till CJ releases them again...
@J Effendi:
yeah and how..my sending birds...
Good.
There will be lesser Propaganda SMSs in India.
oh its harsh and unwise but good decesion to save lives
Instead of taking the proper measures they are just making the nation fool,..!!
The peace loving subscribers cell phones are standing behind the Government of Pakistan.
Thanks for the advance warning, now the terrorists and miscreants will use other means of communication.
Unwise decision by imprudent people.