The governments of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have both implemented or announced mobile service suspensions as part of their Muharram security frameworks, with Balochistan already having carried out a temporary digital blackout across Quetta during the 7th Muharram processions and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa finalising a comprehensive plan for partial suspensions ahead of Ashura on the 9th and 10th of Muharram.
In Balochistan, the provincial Home Department temporarily suspended mobile phone and internet services across Quetta as a strictly precautionary measure to counter security alerts during the 7th Muharram processions. The disruption cut off cellular networks and mobile data across most of the city’s neighbourhoods as mourners observed traditional routes culminating at Mariabad under heavy security. The blackout was accompanied by a visible deployment of police and Frontier Corps personnel at all main entry and exit points of the city throughout the procession route. Authorities stated that services would be restored in a phased manner once the main processions concluded and law enforcement agencies granted security clearance, acknowledging that the sudden blackout created communication difficulties for local businesses and families while maintaining that public safety remained the absolute priority during the sensitive days.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the provincial government has finalised its security arrangements for Ashura, under which mobile phone services will be completely suspended in some areas and partially restricted in other sensitive locations. Authorities have designated a total of 400 Imambargahs across the province as either sensitive or highly sensitive, while 286 processions have been categorised as highly sensitive and an additional 190 placed in the sensitive category, reflecting the considerable scale of security coordination required to manage religious gatherings and processions spread across multiple cities and districts simultaneously. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa plan follows a wider provincial security framework that had already been announced earlier in the week, covering the deployment of over 43,000 police personnel across 14 districts alongside army and Rangers contingents requisitioned for the occasion.
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