Pakistan To Cut Phone Services To Prevent Muharram Attacks

SternisheFan writes with this news from the Indian Express: "Pakistan's interior minister Friday said the government will suspend cell phone services in most parts of the country over the next two days to prevent attacks against Shia Muslims during a key religious commemoration. Militants often detonate bombs using cell phones and this is the first time the government has implemented such a wide-scale suspension. Saturday and Sunday are the most important days of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, especially important to Shias. Pakistani Shias Sunday observe Ashoura, commemorating the 7th century death of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad's grandson. Different parts of the Muslim world mark Ashoura on different days —neighbouring Afghanistan, for example, observes it on Saturday. 'The suspension of cell phone services will begin at 6 am Saturday and run through the next day,' Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. He said 90 per cent of the bombs set off by militants in Pakistan have been detonated using cell phones. Some criticized the government for suspending services, saying it was a huge inconvenience."

Comments

I don't think there is a greater hell

[circletimessquare]

than being a religious minority in Pakistan

Shia, Sikh, Hindu, or Christian

the West should just allow all religious minorities free passage out of Pakistan

they're being hunted

Cell phones don't kill people

[Anonymous Coward]

...people kill people.

Doesn't seem a real solution

[Brandano]

If they use a different system to detonate a bomb (and now they know the cellphones won't work, so it becomes more likely) then it will delay any call for help from the area. Can't they just set up the towers so that a new, unknown, or unregistered foreign number can only make and not receive calls? Then it's a matter of asking people crossing the border to register their number if they want to receive calls, and that makes them more traceable. In any case nothing beats good detective work, most of these "security" measures seem to be just for show, and easily defeated. Why people always seems to think that the bad guys must be stupid? Too many action movies?

Re:Doesn't seem a real solution

[icebike]

The bombers don't come from across the borders. The come from the next street over.
And they use stolen phones.

Re:Are they going to ban the sale of clocks too?

[ColdWetDog]

Even easier - give AT&T the contract for all Pakistani cell phones. Nothing would get through, anytime.