ISLAMABAD: Cellphone services will be suspended in at least 52 cities across Pakistan during Muharram processions on Tuesday and Wednesday, DawnNews reported.

The services will remain suspended from 8am to 10pm although some cities will experience partial suspension in sensitive areas only, a telecom official told DawnNews.

Services will be suspended in the federal capital, all provincial capitals, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, he said.

• In Quetta, at least 7,000 police personnel will be deployed to guard the processions, revealed a senior police official.

• In Lahore, around 20,000 policemen will be on duty, Additional IG (operations) retired Capt Arif Nawaz said.

• In Karachi, tens of thousands of police personnel, Rangers men and plain clothes members of various other security agencies have been mobilised to keep a close watch on terrorists, criminals and miscreants amid an alert sounded for the next three days.

Nisar reviews law and order situation

A high-level security meeting was chaired by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan to review the security arrangements made for Muharram processions.

In the meeting it was decided cellular services would only be suspended for a minimum time to mitigate the general public's inconvenience.