ISLAMABAD: The chairman of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority said on Monday the construction of a new $1.5 billion hydropower project would create 3,000 jobs, reduce imported fuel costs, and broaden Pakistan’s clean energy portfolio.
China’s Gezhouba Group and Pakistan on Monday signed an agreement for the 700.7 megawatt Azad Pattan Hydropower Project.
The plant, slated for completion in 2026, falls under the CPEC umbrella, a flagship of China’s Belt and Road Initiative that will connect the Chinese region of Kashgar with Pakistan’s Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea through a vast network of highways and rail lines. So far, the project has attracted around $60 billion in investments from China.
In a post on Twitter, CPEC Authority Chairman General (retired) Asim Saleem Bajwa said the hydropower project would shift Pakistan’s focus to “cheaper and greener” power.
Listing the benefits of the project he said: “No fuel import so no foreign exchange wasted. 3000 jobs, $1.5 Bn investment-no loan,” adding that it would generate an annual income of Rs1.38 billion from water use for the Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir regions.
After the agreement for the project was signed, Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was present at the inauguration event, said increasing hydropower generation was part of his government’s ‘Clean and Green Pakistan’ policy.
“It will also diminish the impacts of global warming,” Khan said.
$1.5bn hydropower project will create 3,000 jobs — CPEC authority chairman
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$1.5bn hydropower project will create 3,000 jobs — CPEC authority chairman
- Says Azad Pattan project will reduce imported fuel cost and broaden Pakistan’s clean energy portfolio
- PM Khan says increasing hydropower generation part of his government’s ‘Clean and Green Pakistan’ policy
Pakistan arrests four TTP suspects in connection with Islamabad suicide bombing
- Twelve people were killed and 36 injured in the suicide blast outside a district court complex in Islamabad on Tuesday afternoon
- Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi claimed an Afghan national carried out the blast, Kabul did not respond to the allegation
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani intelligence and counter-terrorism authorities have arrested four Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) members in connection with this week’s suicide blast in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, the government said on Friday.
Twelve people were killed and 36 injured in a suicide blast outside a district court’s complex in Islamabad’s G-11 sector on Tuesday afternoon. Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi claimed an Afghan national had carried out the blast. Kabul did not respond to the allegation.
Pakistan’s Intelligence Bureau Division and the Counter-Terrorism Department have busted a “terrorist cell” involved in the attack and arrested four suspects, including the alleged handler of the attack on the court complex, according to a Pakistani government statement on X.
“During interrogation, Sajidullah alias Sheena, the handler of the suicide bomber, confessed that TTP/FAK (Fitna Al-Khawarij) Commander Saeed-ur-Rehman alias Daadullah (resident of Charmang, Bajaur, currently in Afghanistan, and serving as TTP’s Intelligence Chief for Nawagai, Bajaur) contacted him through the Telegram application to carry out a suicide attack in Islamabad to cause maximum casualties of LEAs (law enforcement agencies),” the statement read.
“Daadullah sent pictures of the suicide bomber (SB) Usman alias Qari to Sajidullah alias Sheena for receiving him. SB Usman Qari belonged to the Shinwari tribe and was a resident of Achin, Nangarhar, Afghanistan. When he reached Pakistan from Afghanistan, Sajidullah alias Sheena arranged his stay in a residence near Islamabad.”
Sajidullah collected a suicide jacket from Akhun Baba graveyard in the northwestern city of Peshawar and brought it to Islamabad, according to the statement. On the day of the blast, he set the suicide jacket on the bomber.
“The network was handled and guided at every step by the Fitna Al-Khawarij/TTP high command based in Afghanistan,” the Pakistani government said.
“The entire cell involved in the incident, including its commander and three other members, has been arrested. Investigations are continuing, and more revelations and arrests are expected.”
There was no immediate response from Kabul to the statement.
The TTP has been behind some of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan since late 2000s. The group has stepped up its attacks against Pakistani security forces and law enforcement agencies since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan.
Islamabad frequently accuses the Afghan Taliban of sheltering the TTP, or the Pakistani Taliban, and India of backing the group in launching cross-border attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi deny this.
Clashes erupted between the neighbors on Oct. 11 after Pakistan conducted airstrikes in Afghanistan against what it said were TTP-linked targets. The two sides reached a ceasefire in Doha on Oct. 19, but tensions remain high between the neighbors despite two rounds of talks in Istanbul, with Pakistan seeking “verifiable” action against militant groups operating on Afghan soil.
