(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Friday that the suspension was intended to “ensure security during and after the Muharram processions”.
The government would block mobile and wireless phone services over the next two days in southern port city of Karachi, southwestern city of Quetta and the capital city of Islamabad.
“We have shut our service in Karachi and Quetta on the instructions of the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority from 1:00 pm (0800 GMT) to midnight,” AFP quoted an official at Mobilink, the country’s largest mobile phone service provider as saying.
This comes after nearly 40 Shia Muslims were killed in three bomb attacks on religious gatherings in the southern port city of Karachi and the garrison city of Rawalpindi on Wednesday evening.
Thousands of Pakistani Shia Muslims are now receiving death threat text messages on their cellphones as pro-Taliban militants step up deadly campaign against the community members across the violence-ravaged country.
Heavily armed militants have targeted several religious ceremonies commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (peace be upon him) in different regions of Pakistan over the past week.
Meanwhile, Ihsanullah Ihsan, a spokesman for the militants' umbrella group, the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has claimed that suspending mobile phone services will not hold them back from carrying out their deadly attacks against the Shia Muslims.
“The Taliban can not be stopped by jamming mobile phone services. We would achieve our targets in any case,” daily Dawn newspaper quoted the Taliban spokesman as saying.
Human rights groups say hundreds of Shia Muslims have been killed in the violence-hit country so far this year.
Several citizens have expressed their deep concerns over the ongoing massacre and religious persecution of Shias across Pakistan.
Thousands also plan to march through the streets of Islamabad in order to protest against the ongoing sectarian violence and growing insecurity across the county.
Violence has surged against Shia Muslims in different parts of Pakistan in recent months. Since the beginning of 2012, hundreds of Shias have been killed in various parts of the militancy-wracked country.
Pakistan's pro-Taliban militants have launched a violent campaign against Shia Muslims over the past years. According to local sources, militants affiliated to Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorist groups have killed thousands of Shia Muslims in the region since the start of the campaign.
The country’s Shia leaders have called on the government to form a judicial commission to investigate the bloodshed.
The killing of Shias in Pakistan has sparked international outrage, with rights groups and regional countries expressing concern over the ongoing carnage. Still, those behind the violence are rarely caught or punished.
Human Rights Watch issued a statement in September asking the Pakistani government to “urgently act” to protect the Shia Muslims in Pakistan.
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