Pakistan's Dilemma with Cellphones as a Militant Tool

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority on Aug. 19 ordered mobile phone service providers to temporarily block service in several Pakistani cities, including Lahore, Quetta, Karachi and Multan. Interior Minister Rehman Malik said authorities enacted the ban to disrupt a plot by Pakistani militants to stage attacks on that date, during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. Mobile services were intermittently suspended between 8 p.m. on Aug. 19 and 11 a.m. on Aug. 20. After the suspension, Malik said the Subscriber Identification Module card verification system would be strengthened. Fraudulent SIM cards would be banned, Malik said, and pre-paid mobile services should be banned altogether.

Militants in Pakistan have often used fraudulently registered SIM cards to communicate under false identities in order to avoid electronic surveillance by the government. They have even used mobile phones to remotely detonate improvised explosive devices. Malik's call for a strengthened SIM registration system and a ban on pre-paid phones is intended to remove this tool for militants. However, given the extremely widespread use of pre-paid cellphones and the government's inability to effectively control their use, militants will be able to acquire fraudulent SIM cards even if reforms proceed.