Pakistan cuts mobile and internet services in bid to contain Balochistan insurgency

Suspension of cellular and mobile internet services for three weeks comes a day after suicide attack kills three paramilitary personnel

Authorities in Pakistan have suspended cellular and mobile internet services for three weeks in the restive province of Balochistan in a bid to contain a raging insurgency.

The order came a day after a suicide attack on a paramilitary convoy in the Kech district killed at least three personnel and injured many more.

Separatist insurgents demanding a larger share of profits from the resources of the mineral-rich province have stepped up attacks in recent months on the military, which has retaliated with an intelligence-based offensive.

The government said the services would be suspended until the end of the month, Reuters reported.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said that mobile internet had been blocked in Kohlu, Chaman, Qila Abdullah, Pishin, Loralai, Ziarat, Qila Saifullah, Nushki, and Harnai.

“The service has been suspended because they use it for coordination and sharing information," provincial government spokesperson Shahid Rind said on Friday, referring to the insurgents.

This week’s attack was claimed by the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, the strongest of the insurgent groups deemed responsible for the killings of almost 100 people in Balochistan in 2024.

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

Authorities say there are 8.5 million cell phone subscribers in Balochistan. Pakistan's largest province by size borders Afghanistan and Iran, but it is thinly populated, accounting for just 15 million of the national population of 240 million.

The suspension follows last month’s ban on road travel to Iran. Authorities had cited security threats to impose that ban.

Insurgency has roiled Balochistan for decades. The insurgents primarily attack the Pakistani military or Chinese nationals and their interests.

The province is home to the Gwadar Port, built by China as part of a £48bn investment in Pakistan under the Belt and Road programme.

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