No mobile phone service in 21 Punjab districts on Muharram 9, 10

LAHORE: The Punjab Home Department has announced the suspension of mobile phone service in 21 districts of the province on 9 and Muharram, ARY News reported on Monday.

It included Muzaffargarh where the proposal for mobile phone suspension is forwarded for during 7th and 10th Muharram.

The mobile services will remain shut in sensitive areas of several cities including Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, Muzaffargarh, DG Khan, Rahim Yar Khan, Layyah, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Rajanpur and some other districts of upper Punjab.

Other districts where mobile phone services will remain available include Lahore, Kasur, Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Attock, Jhelum, Chakwal, Sargodha, Khushab, Chiniot, Multan, Khanewal, Vehari, Sahiwal, Okara, Pakpattan and Lodhran.

Earlier, the federal government approved the deployment of armed forces across the country to ensure security during the month of Muharram.

The move comes at the request of the authorities in Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir to deploy military to control the law and order situation.

The Centre, under Article 245 of the Constitution, authorized the “deployment of army troops/assets and civil armed forces troops/assets” to ensure peace.

It is pertinent to mention here that Ashura will be observed in Pakistan on July 17 (Wednesday).