ISLAMABAD: Five Pakistani security personnel have been killed in a militant attack near the border with Afghanistan, the military said on Saturday.
The attack took place in the Spinwam area of North Waziristan, in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military’s media wing, ISPR, said in a statement. The five security personnel killed were four Frontier Corps soldiers a Levies subinspector.
“Terrorists targeted security forces vehicle in Spinwam, North Waziristan,” the ISPR said. “Clearance operation is in progress to eliminate any terrorist found in the area.”
Earlier in the day, the attack was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), but the ISPR did not confirm it.
The militant group, which is a separate entity from the Afghan Taliban, has carried out numerous past attacks in Pakistan, including the 2014 deadly attack on a Peshawar school that killed 154 people, mostly schoolchildren, and an attack on Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai.
Last month, President Arif Alvi and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced the government was willing to offer amnesty to TTP members if they renounced violence and adhered to the country’s constitution, but the group it was proud of its “struggle” and was not seeking forgiveness from anyone.
North Waziristan served as a headquarters for local and foreign militants in the 2000s, until 2017, when the Pakistani army completed several operations in the mountainous region.
Recently, attacks in the area have been on the rise, targeting mainly security forces.
Militants kill five Pakistani troops near Afghan border
https://arab.news/vdqe4
Militants kill five Pakistani troops near Afghan border
- Security forces were ambushed in the Spinwam area of North Waziristan
- Attack was claimed by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan but the Pakistani military did not confirm it
Pakistan plans $80 million seafood zone at Karachi harbor to target Gulf markets
- Plan aims to move exports away from raw seafood toward higher-value processed products
- Project will be developed under public-private partnership or build-operate-transfer model
KARACHI: Pakistan plans to develop a seafood processing and export zone at Karachi’s Korangi Fisheries Harbor that could cost up to $80 million to boost value-added exports and position the country as a supplier to the Gulf and other regional markets, Maritime Affairs Minister Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry said on Saturday.
The proposed 100-acre project aims to shift Pakistan away from exporting raw seafood by building modern processing, cold-chain and packaging infrastructure linked to international buyers, as Islamabad looks to expand its blue economy and deepen maritime trade ties with the region.
In a statement, Chaudhry said the zone would be developed, financed and operated under a public-private partnership or build-operate-transfer (BOT) model, with private investors running the facilities and the Qur’angi Fisheries Harbor Authority retaining regulatory oversight.
“The estimated project cost ranges between $60 million and $80 million, based on regional benchmarks from countries such as Vietnam, China and Ecuador, which have developed similar seafood parks,” Chaudhry said.
He said the facility would include 20 to 25 medium- to large-scale seafood processing units for fish, shrimp and cephalopods, alongside large-scale cold storage, blast freezing, packaging facilities, logistics and export terminals, and a wastewater treatment plant to ensure environmentally compliant operations.
“Packaging and labeling units would operate under international food safety and quality standards, including HACCP and ISO certifications, offering vacuum packing, modified atmosphere packaging and retail-ready solutions,” he said, referring to Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, a preventive food safety system.
ISO certification verifies that a company’s management systems meet international standards.
The minister said the zone would be used exclusively for commercial seafood processing, packaging, cold storage and export-oriented activities, with multi-temperature storage ranging from minus 18 to minus 40 degrees Celsius and ice plants capable of producing 50 to 100 tons daily.
Chaudhry said the preferred investment structure is a BOT concession under which the private partner would finance, develop and operate the project for an expected 20-year tenure, with ownership reverting to the harbor authority at the end of the concession period.
He added that the estimated internal rate of return was projected between 13 percent and 17 percent, with revenue generated through lease rentals, processing fees, logistics services and export-linked earnings.
“The project will position Pakistan as a key maritime trade and seafood export hub serving Gulf, East African and Asian markets,” Chaudhry said.
