Security measures: K-P slaps restrictions on porting services for Afghan-based SIMs

Officials say foreign SIM cards are used by terrorist groups to evade detection.

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Home and Tribal Affairs department has asked local cellular service providers to stop activating illegal Afghanistan-based subscriber identification modules (SIMs).

Foreign SIM cards are being using by terrorist groups, as a result of which they are difficult to trace, officials said on Tuesday. They claimed SIM cards were being smuggled from Afghanistan on a massive scale and were being activated by Pakistani cellular service providers through porting facilities.

“A good number of Afghan SIM cards were being used by extortionists and militants to avoid detection by police and other law enforcement agencies,” said one official.



Following Sunday’s terror attack on All Saints’ Church, service providers have been told to stop providing porting services without fulfilling legal requirements, otherwise they would be liable to face action.

Police have also been directed to beef up security at places of worship, including churches, church schools, missionary hospitals, gurdwaras and temples across the province. Moreover, law enforcement agencies have been asked to urgently deploy additional contingents of police.

“It has been decided that in addition to the deployment of uniformed police personnel, officials in civilian clothes will also be stationed at churches and temples round the clock,” informed an official.

Insiders said four policemen were earlier deployed at every church in the city. However, the presence of police personnel will be increased in light of the recent attack. In addition, local police stations will dispatch more policemen on Sundays to ensure no untoward incident takes place in the future.

A senior police official said the attack is being investigated by different angles and investigators are focused on identifying the group responsible for carrying it out.

“It is an enigma how the two suicide bombers entered the church successfully and we are investigating it. Identifying the perpetrators is also a top priority,” the official explained. Once the group is identified, it will be helpful to get prior intelligence regarding their activities to ward off future attacks, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2013.