Mobile data service suspended in Balochistan untill August 31

QUETTA: Pakistan has suspended cell phone data services for three weeks in the province of Balochistan in a bid to block communications among miscreants behind a surge in recent attacks, an official and the government said.

In an order seen by Reuters, the government said the services would be suspended until the end of the month because of the law and order situation in the province, home to key Chinese Belt and Road projects.

“The service has been suspended because they (militants) use it for coordination and sharing information,” Shahid Rind, a spokesperson for the provincial government, said on Friday.

Officials said there are 8.5 million cell phone subscribers in Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by size, which borders Afghanistan and Iran. But it is thinly populated, with just 15 million from a national population of 240 million.

The news follows Pakistan’s ban on road travel to Iran late last month, citing security threats.

The region is home to the Gwadar Port, built by Beijing as part of a $65-billion investment in Pakistan in the Belt and Road programme designed to expand China’s global reach.

Islamabad accuses arch-rival India of funding and backing the insurgents in a bid to stoke instability, as Pakistan seeks international investments in the region.

Earlier on Friday, Pakistani security forces killed 33 terrorists affiliated with the group Fitna al-Khawarij during an attempted infiltration across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Balochistan, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said, as reported by ARY News.

According to the ISPR, on the night of August 7-8, 2025, security forces detected the movement of a large group of Khawarij—linked to the Indian proxy group Fitna al-Khawarij, who were trying to infiltrate through Pakistan-Afghanistan border, in general area Sambaza, Zhob District of Balochistan.

“Own troops effectively engaged and thwarted their attempt to infiltrate. As a result of precise, bold and skillful engagement, thirty three Indian sponsored khwarij were killed. A large cache of weapons, ammunition & explosives was also recovered,” the military’s media wing said.

ISPR said that sanitization operation is being conducted to eliminate any other khwarij found in the area.