ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Ahmad Khan said on Friday all staff members of his country’s consulate in Jalalabad were safe and none of them were targeted by any terrorist group.
Khan made the confirmation while talking to Arab News after the US-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors the online activities of extremist outfits, claimed that Daesh had killed an employee of the Pakistani consulate in eastern Afghanistan.
“No, our personnel are safe,” Khan said over the phone. “I have confirmed it from our consul general in Jalalabad.”
In November 2017, a Pakistani diplomatic Nayyar Iqbal Rana was shot and killed by unknown gunmen near his residence in the eastern Afghan city.
“We are trying to figure out what this news is all about,” Khan continued, “but our consul general has talked to all our personnel and reported them safe.”
An official working with the Pakistani diplomatic mission in Jalalabad also described it as fake news.
“The news is untrue and our staff in Jalalabad are all well,” he told Arab News.
Pakistani envoy in Kabul denies reports consulate employee killed in Jalalabad
https://arab.news/ct8v7
Pakistani envoy in Kabul denies reports consulate employee killed in Jalalabad
- A US-based intelligence group that monitors the online activities of militant outfits claimed Daesh had killed a member of Pakistani consulate
- Pakistan’s top diplomat in Afghanistan got in touch with the consul general in Jalalabad who assured all employees of the diplomatic facility were safe
Pakistan PM orders accelerated privatization of power sector to tackle losses
- Tenders to be issued for privatization of three major electricity distribution firms, PMO says
- Sharif says Pakistan to develop battery energy storage through public-private partnerships
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s prime minister on Monday directed the government to speed up privatization of state-owned power companies and improve electricity infrastructure nationwide, as authorities try to address deep-rooted losses and inefficiencies in the energy sector that have weighed on the economy and public finances.
Pakistan’s electricity system has long struggled with financial distress caused by a combination of factors including theft of power, inefficient collection of bills, high costs of generating electricity and a large burden of unpaid obligations known as “circular debt.” In the first quarter of the current financial year, government-owned distribution companies recorded losses of about Rs171 billion ($611 million) due to poor bill recovery and operational inefficiencies, official documents show. Circular debt in the broader power sector stood at around Rs1.66 trillion ($5.9 billion) in mid-2025, a sharp decline from past peaks but still a major fiscal drain.
Efforts to contain these losses have been a focus of Pakistan’s economic reform program with the International Monetary Fund, which has urged structural changes in the energy sector as part of financing conditions. Previous government initiatives have included signing a $4.5 billion financing facility with local banks to ease power sector debt and reducing retail electricity tariffs to support economic recovery.
“Electricity sector privatization and market-based competition is the sustainable solution to the country’s energy problems,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said at a meeting reviewing the roadmap for power sector reforms, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
The meeting reviewed progress on privatization and infrastructure projects. Officials said tenders for modernizing one of Pakistan’s oldest operational hubs, Rohri Railway Station, will be issued soon and that the Ghazi Barotha to Faisalabad transmission line, designed to improve long-distance transmission of electricity, is in the initial approval stages. While not all power-sector decisions were detailed publicly, the government emphasized expanding private sector participation and completing priority projects to strengthen the electricity grid.
In another key development, the prime minister endorsed plans to begin work on a battery energy storage system with participation from private investors to help manage fluctuations in supply and demand, particularly as renewable energy sources such as solar and wind take a growing role in generation. Officials said the concept clearance for the storage system has been approved and feasibility studies are underway.
Government briefing documents also outlined steps toward shifting some electricity plants from imported coal to locally mined Thar coal, where a railway line expansion is underway to support transport of fuel, potentially lowering costs and import dependence in the long term.
State authorities also pledged to address safety by converting unmanned railway crossings to staffed ones and to strengthen food safety inspections at stations, underscoring broader infrastructure and service improvements connected to energy and transport priorities.
