The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police have formally written to the provincial Home Department requesting a partial suspension of mobile and internet services on 9 and 10 Muharram al-Haram in designated sensitive areas across the province, as part of a broader classified security plan approved by the Inspector General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police covering the entire province during the mourning period.
Under the security framework, eight districts have been designated as the most sensitive, where the request for mobile and internet service suspension is concentrated. These districts are Peshawar, Kohat, Hangu, Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, and Kurram. An additional six districts have been categorised as sensitive, where security arrangements for processions and gatherings will be substantially stricter than standard operational protocols, though the internet suspension request specifically targets the eight highest-risk areas where crowd concentration and historical security concerns are most pronounced.
Across all 14 districts covered by the security plan, more than 43,000 police officers and personnel will be deployed to provide security cover for Muharram processions and mourning assemblies throughout the province. The scale of the deployment reflects the operational complexity of managing large public gatherings across multiple cities and districts simultaneously, with Peshawar, Kohat, and Kurram historically requiring the most intensive security coordination during the Muharram period. The request to suspend mobile and internet services in sensitive areas is consistent with the approach taken in previous years in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other provinces, where authorities have cited the need to prevent the rapid dissemination of incitement content and to limit coordination that could exacerbate security incidents during high-sensitivity observances. The Home Department’s formal response to the police request had not been confirmed at the time of reporting.
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