QUETTA: Authorities in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province have suspended mobile Internet service in all 36 districts for a week, a senior official confirmed on Thursday, a move that has disrupted daily life and paralyzed small businesses as the country faces a fresh wave of militant violence.
The provincial home department ordered the shutdown from Nov. 10 to 16, citing deteriorating “law and order,” according to an official notification seen by Arab News. A senior government official confirmed the directive but declined to comment further.
The blackout has hit cash-transfer agents and service providers who depend on mobile networks to process transactions.
“We deal with dozens of customers regularly who visit my shop for sending or collecting money to their loved ones across Pakistan, but this suspension has dropped our business down to zero,” said Mubashir Ahmed, who works with local money-transfer services such as Easypaisa and JazzCash.
“Instead of suspending mobile Internet, the government should take other measures to maintain law and order in Balochistan,” he added.
The shutdown follows the provincial administration’s decision to impose Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, allowing district magistrates to restrict movement and ban public gatherings to prevent unrest.
Earlier this week, the Provincial Transport Authority announced a three-day suspension of public transport before rescinding the order.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but least developed province, has long grappled with a separatist insurgency that has intensified in recent months, with militants targeting security personnel, government officials non-local residents and infrastructure linked to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Islamabad denies accusations by insurgent groups that it exploits the region’s natural resources.
The Internet suspension comes during a week of heightened violence in the country, including a suicide attack outside a court complex in Islamabad and a militant assault on a cadet college in the northwestern town of Wana.
