The government directed Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to suspend the cellular phone services temporarily in various cities, including Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, D.I Khan, Jhang and Sargodha to avert any untoward incident on 12th Rabi-ul-Awal.

Earlier, the government had announced that pillion riding would be banned from January 10 to 15 in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Mirpur Khas and Larkana.

Like always, the ministry of interior feared that terrorists may use mobile phones to detonate explosive devices and communicate with each other to organize attacks.

Moreover, Under the Section 144, pillion riding, use and display of weapons and use of any kind of fireworks have been banned till 14th Jan 2104.