Pakistan suspends mobile data service in Balochistan to counter terror threats

Pakistan army soldiers stand at a tunnel where a train was attacked by separatists in Bolan, Balochistan, on March 15, 2025. (Photo/Reuters)

Pakistan has suspended cell phone data services for three weeks in the southwestern province of Balochistan in a bid to block communications among terrorists behind a surge in recent attacks, an official and the government said.

"The service has been suspended because they (separatists) use it for coordination and sharing information," Shahid Rind, a spokesperson for the provincial government, said on Friday.

In an order on Wednesday, the government said the services would be suspended until the end of the month because of the law and order situation in the province.

Officials said there are 8.5 million cell phone subscribers in Balochistan, Pakistan's largest province by area, which borders Afghanistan and Iran. But it is thinly populated, with just 15 million from a national population of 240 million.

Separatists demanding a bigger share of profits from the resources of the province have stepped up attacks in recent months, particularly on Pakistan's military, which has launched an intelligence-based operation against them.

The news follows Pakistan's ban on road travel to Iran late last month, citing security threats.

Decades-long insurgency

The insurgency by the separatists, who accuse Pakistan's government of depriving them of their share in regional resources, has roiled the province for decades.

They primarily attack the Pakistani military or Chinese nationals and their interests, but have recently started targeting senior army officers.

The military said an officer and two soldiers were killed in a roadside blast set off by the separatists on Tuesday.

The attack targeting a vehicle was claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a designated terrorist group and the strongest of the area's insurgent groups, which has also claimed responsibility for several attacks on senior officers in recent weeks.

The region is home to the Gwadar Port, built by Beijing as part of a $65-billion Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) investment in Pakistan designed to expand China's global reach.

Islamabad accuses arch-rival India of funding and backing the separatists in a bid to stoke instability, as Pakistan seeks international investments in the region, a charge New Delhi denies.

In March, the BLA blew up a railway track and took hostage more than 400 train passengers in an attack that killed 31, including 23 soldiers.

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Source: TRT