Cellular phone services to go off in many KP towns

PESHAWAR: The cellular phone services in many cities and towns of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata would be suspended during the last two days of Ashura as parts of the city has been sealed and Frontier Constabulary also deployed for ensuring foolproof security, officials said on Friday.
An official of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Home and Tribal Affairs Department said the cellular phone services would remain suspended in places that were highly sensitive and under threat of militant attacks. “Yes, the cellular phone would remain suspended on Saturday and Sunday owing to security reasons,” said the official while requesting not to be named.

Police were directed to be more vigilant after a suicide blast near a police checkpost in Lakki Marwat district on Friday evening.

The Commandant Frontier Constabulary Abdul Majeed Marwat said 87 platoons were at the disposal of KP Police. He said this included 37 platoons for Peshawar Police. He said that five platoons have been given to Dera Ismail Khan and another two platoons to Mansehra to maintain law and order.

Meanwhile, aerial surveillance would be conducted in Peshawar and other citiess for peaceful observance of the Ashura.In Peshawar, the inner city and Saddar Road have been sealed and roads blocked by barbed wire and cement blocks.

The security on routes coming from tribal areas as well as southern districts has been strengthened with the deployment of more cops and soldiers of the FC. “The cops on entry points have been directed to keep an eye on suspicious movement of pedestrians or vehicles to thwart any possible sabotage bid,” said an official.

Police defused two bombs recovered from under the Arbab Sikandar Khan Khalil Flyover on the GT Road in Gulbahar on Thursday. On Tuesday, an alleged would-be suicide bomber and his handler were arrested while entering Peshawar from Khyber Agency.

A day later, police arrested five accomplices of the alleged bomber and seized an explosives-laden pick up truck. The vehicle was carrying over 600 kilograms of explosives and around 9,000 detonators.

Posted in: Peshawar news