Metro bus service to remain suspended on Youm-e-Ashur

Islamabad/Rawalpindi: The administration of Metro bus service decided on Saturday to keep the service suspended in Islamabad and Rawalpindi due to stringent security arrangements adopted to safeguard Muharram processions.

According to details, closure of the Metro bus link irked employees of private companies who were left with no option other than hiring private taxis and taking lift from commuters in order to reach their offices on 9th Muharram.

In addition, hundreds of commuters were also seen walking alongside the Grand Trunk road since public transportation was virtually in-existent, while the flow of private vehicular traffic was also observed to be very low.

In addition, the government also partially suspended mobile phone services in major cities of the country to prevent any untoward incident from taking place during Muharram processions. In addition to cellular services, internet services have also been partially suspended in parts of Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta and other cities, as authorities finalised security arrangements ahead of the main Ashura processions.

In order to keep law and order situation under complete control, the government also decided to ban pillion riding in sensitive cities of the country, including Karachi, Quetta and Peshawar, as part of Ashura security arrangements.