Residents of Karachi are experiencing partial suspension of cellular services on Wednesday, the 8th of Muharram, ahead of Ashura.

The cellular services have been suspended in areas through which mourning processions will pass during the day.

Citizens took to social media to post that they stopped receiving mobile signals starting in the morning.

Some were taken by surprise by the blockage of signals in their area.

Sindh Home Secretary Kazi Kabeer told Dawn that mobile phone services will remain suspended between 7am and 12 midnight on 8th, 9th and 10th Muharram in various cities of Sindh including Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Shaheed Benazirabad, Khairpur, Larkana, Shikarpur and Jacobabad.

In Karachi, the cellular service will be blocked only in areas near procession routes for the convenience of the public, he said.

Mobile services are suspended every year during Ashura as part of the security measures.

According to a letter sent by the Sindh government's Home Department to the interior ministry and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), dated August 30, the provincial authorities had requested the federal government to place a ban on mobile services/internet in major cities of Sindh on the 8th, 9th and 10th of Muharram.

The request was made in view of "apprehensions of coordination of criminal activity by miscreants/criminals through the use of cellular phones/internet during Muharram related majlis (religious gathering) and processions".

The mobile companies could be asked to restore cellular services in case of an emergency, the letter read.

Several key roads in Karachi and other cities of Sindh will remain closed for mourning processions, and traffic from blocked roads will be diverted to alternative routes that were notified by the Karachi traffic police on Tuesday.

On Muharram 8, a procession will be taken out at 1:30pm from Nishtar Park, and will end at Hussainian Iranian Imambargah.

The federal government has declared 9th and 10th Muharram as public holidays.