ISLAMABAD ( BMZ REPORT )
Cellular services in the twin cities were restored after a temporary suspension of one and a half hours for the second consecutive Friday in the current month on directives of the Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA).
“Cellular services were suspended after a letter issued by the Interior Ministry in light of intelligence reports about impending security threats,” a senior official in the enforcement section of the PTA told The Express Tribune.
Mobile phone networks went offline on Friday after 12:30am and restored by 2:00pm in the majority areas of Islamabad while some areas of the Rawalpindi saw cellular service disruption which caused anguish among residents.
A mobile phone services company representative said that Interior Ministry and PTA had asked the cellular service providers to suspend signals within one kilometre of Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa in sectors G-6 and G-7, which were adjacent to the mosque and the seminary but the service remained suspended in most parts of the capital.
The PTA official upheld that Lal Masjid administration had called for a protest after Friday prayers due to which security agencies were on high alert, adding the ministry, therefore, directed the PTA to suspend services during Friday prayer.
Meanwhile, many people took to Twitter to express their anguish against the unscheduled disruption of the cellphone services.