SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24: 9th and 10th of Muharram: cell phone blackout in 49 cities

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to suspend mobile phone services on 9th and 10th of Muharram in 49 cities across the country, Interior Minister Rehman Malik told media persons after a meeting on Friday. Terrorists, he said, were planning to mount more attacks in the coming days, particularly in Karachi, Quetta and Islamabad.
Therefore, he said, the government had decided to suspend mobile services in consultation with all provinces, adding that cell phone services would be suspended between 6am and 10pm on both days. He said that mobile phone services in Karachi, Hyderabad, Larkana, Khairpur and several other cities had already been barred, adding they would be blocked in Nowshera, Charsadah, Kalat and Kohlu from Saturday (today). In Hangu and Kohat, the suspension would start from Friday evening, Rehman Malik said.
He said that mobile services had been suspended between 1300 and midnight in Quetta and Karachi on November 23, (Muharram 8). Mobile services, he said, had been suspended in Sector G-9 in Islamabad between 1500 and 1800 on November 23, (Muharram 8). Mobile phone services would be suspended in Sector G-6 between 1500 and 2000 on November 24 (Muharram 9). "We are suspending the mobile phone service and PTCL's wireless service on the request of provincial governments of Sindh and Balochistan," Malik said.
Rehman Malik urged the public to avoid riding motorbikes and use public transport till Ashura. President Asif Ali Zardari, he said, had ordered to take impartial action against violators to restore peace, he said. He said that an inquiry is underway to "unearth the involvement of a third party behind the violence in Karachi and elsewhere in the country".
Rehman made an appeal to Sunni and Shia Ulema to avoid making inflammatory and derogatory remarks or speeches to ensure inter-faith harmony. An official said that the meeting reviewed the domestic law and order situation and potential terrorism threats. The meeting was attended by Secretary Interior, Additional Secretary Interior, Chairman NADRA, Chief Commissioner Islamabad, Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Islamabad, representatives of intelligence agencies and other senior officials.
The official said that the Interior Minister informed the IGP and Chief Commissioner, Islamabad, that there was credible information that terrorist attacks were imminent in Islamabad. Therefore, strict measures should be taken to enhance the security and protect the Majalis and processions, using all available resources.
He said that the meeting reviewed requests from all provinces for suspension of mobile services. The official said that the Interior Minister consulted the Prime Minister, top officials of Azad Kashmir, the Chief Secretary of Punjab, Provincial Police Officer (PPO) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh's Home Secretary in this regard.
The official said that the meeting issued strict instructions to PPOs and Home Secretaries of all provinces, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan not to allow the parking of any motorcycle or vehicle within half a kilometer of Majalis and routes of processions, besides placing maximum number of jammers along the routes of processions and at Majalis venues.
The meeting ordered all provinces to check all garbage bins/depots physically and electronically near the venues of Majalis and procession routes. No cement blocks would be allowed to be placed near Majalis and procession routes. All electricity transformers along procession routes shall be physically searched for IEDs and be guarded around the clock. Similarly, police and law-enforcement agencies to electronically sweep any freshly dug up soil along the routes or near Majalis venues.
The meeting decided that all water and sherbet dispensing kiosks (sabeels), stalls and first-aid camps along procession routes and near Imambargahs shall be minutely checked for security clearance. Certificate of such clearance shall be given by a responsible person for maintaining the camp/sabeel/stall. All buildings and vantage points along the procession routes shall be manned by sharp shooters with proper communication. No government official, individual or member of law-enforcement agency is to move near the procession without proper identification card, he said.
The meeting decided that anybody identifying any material linked with IEDs shall be rewarded with a cash prize of Rs 5 million. Anybody caught planting IED or firing shall be dealt with under the law, exercising right to defence by Rangers and police to neutralise the offender from causing harm. The meeting decided that mobile phone services would be suspended in Lahore, Multan, Sargodha, Attock, Rawalpindi, Jhang, Rahim Yar Khan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala. Quetta, Kalat, Khuzdar, Turbat, Gwadar, Punjgur, Mastung, Kohlu, Dera Bugti, Hub, Kohat City, Ustarzai, Hangu, Banu, Lakki Marwat, Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Nowshera, Haripur, Charsadda, Mardan and in Fata: Kurram Agency (Parachinar), Miranshah (PTCL would also remain closed). In Azad kashmir: Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Neelum Valley, Rawlakot, Mirpur and Gilgit.