Mobile phones new weapons of terrorism: Rehman Malik

A paramilitary soldier stands guard at the site of a bomb explosion in Quetta December 30, 2012. The car bomb exploded on Sunday near a convoy of buses taking Pakistani Shia pilgrims to Iran, killing 20 people and wounding 24, officials said, the latest attack on the minority sect. REUTERS

Mobile phones have now become a "weapon of terrorism" as most bombings in Pakistan are conducted through them, Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said.

He said that during the month of Muharram, mobile phone services were suspended in many cities which helped in avoiding blasts, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

"Mobile phones are now a weapon of terrorism as all improvised bombings are conducted through them," Malik said.

The minister said legislation should be brought to ban the sale of illegal mobile phone SIM cards.

The South Asia Terrorism Portal, which compiles reports of terror attacks, says more than 1,000 people were killed and 2,700 injured in bomb attacks in Pakistan in 2012.