Mobile phone service in major cities across Pakistan has been shut off as of Thursday.
The intentional take-down of service comes as Pakistan’s leaders struggle to combat the latest threat of terrorist attacks in the nation.
Phone service in 39 cities was suspended at 8 a.m. yesterday according to an unnamed source at the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.
Pakistan suspended mobile phone services in cities across all four provinces on a key date in the religious calendar for the country’s Shiite Muslims, a minority that has been repeatedly targeted by Sunni extremists.
Bloomberg, which confirmed reports that mobile phones have been used in Pakistan to detonate explosives in the past, says the government has shut off cellular services “at least three times” since the tragic September 21st protests of an anti-Islam movie that left 11 people dead.
