ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Thursday welcomed investment from Saudi Arabia as he met a four-member delegation led by Sheikh Abdulaziz Hamad Al-Jomaih, head of Al-Jomaih Holding Group, one of the largest business groups in Saudi Arabia and a major investor in Pakistani utility K-Electric.
Al-Jomaih bought a 66.4. percent share in KE in 2005 as part of a consortium comprising Al-Jomaih, Abraaj Group and Kuwait’s National Industries Group (NIG). In 2016, the consortium decided to sell the stake to China’s Shanghai Electric Power and submitted an application for a National Security Certificate (NSC) to the Pakistani Privatization Commission. However, the group still awaits approval of the deal due to long-standing issues of KE’s payables and receivables with various government entities.
The process was expedited after visits to Pakistan in the last few years by senior Al-Jomaih officials, who met with Pakistani top government officials including former Prime Ministers Imran Khan and Shehbaz Sharif to speak about obstacles including regulatory approvals and liquidity constraints as a consequence of mounting circular debt plaguing the country’s power sector.
The government of Pakistan currently owns a 24.4 percent stake in K-Electric, which powers the country’s largest city and commercial hub of Karachi.
“Al-Jomaih Group has invested heavily in Karachi Electric,” Kakar was quoted as saying by the PM office in a statement shared with media. “We value Saudi investment in Pakistan, welcome Saudi investment in Pakistan’s energy sector.”
“The delegation of Al-Jumia Group thanked the Prime Minister and the government team for solving the long-standing problems of Karachi Electric,” the statement added, as the team informed Kakar about new investment projects of 1500MW relying on local sources and renewable energy.
“The PM called on Al-Jomaih group to invest in the alternative energy sector in Pakistan,” the statement concluded.
Pakistani PM welcomes Saudi investment in meeting with Al-Jomaih delegation
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Pakistani PM welcomes Saudi investment in meeting with Al-Jomaih delegation
- Al-Jomaih is one of the largest business groups in Saudi Arabia and a major investor in Pakistani utility K-Electric
- Al-Jomaih bought a 66.4% share in KE in 2005 along with Abraaj Group and Kuwait’s National Industries Group
Pakistan saw up to 17% drop in cross-border attacks after Afghan border closure — think tank
- CRSS calls 2025 the deadliest year in a decade with 3,417 violence-linked fatalities nationwide
- Violence remained concentrated in the western provinces as security forces killed 2,060 militants
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan recorded a sharp decline in cross-border militant attacks and violence-linked fatalities in the final months of 2025 after it closed its border with Afghanistan in October, even as the country endured its deadliest year in a decade overall, according to an annual security report released by a local think tank on Wednesday.
Pakistan has frequently accused Afghanistan of sheltering proscribed armed factions, such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), in the past, while also pointing a finger at the Taliban administration in Kabul for “facilitating” their attacks against Pakistani civilians and security forces.
The Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) said in its report that terrorist attacks fell by nearly 17% in December, following a 9% decline in November, after Pakistan shut the border on Oct. 11. It noted that violence-linked fatalities among civilians and security personnel also declined in the final quarter of the year, falling by nearly 4% and 19% respectively in November and December.
“Pakistan recorded a significant drop in cross-border terrorist attacks and violence-linked fatalities after it closed down the border to Afghanistan,” CRSS said.
Despite the late-year decline, the think tank said 2025 “went by as the most violent year for Pakistan in a decade,” with overall violence surging nearly 34% year-on-year.
Fatalities rose from 2,555 in 2024 to 3,417 in 2025 — an increase of 862 deaths — extending a five-year upward trend in violence that coincides with the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021, the report said.
“2025 marked another grim year for Pakistan’s security landscape,” it added, noting that violence has increased every year since 2021, with annual surges of nearly 38% in 2021, over 15% in 2022, 56% in 2023, nearly 67% in 2024 and 34% in 2025.
REGIONAL CONCENTRATION
Violence remained heavily concentrated in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and southwestern Balochistan provinces, which together accounted for more than 96% of all fatalities and nearly 93% of violent incidents nationwide.
KP was the worst-hit region, recording 2,331 fatalities in 2025 — a 44% increase from 1,620 deaths in 2024 — accounting for more than 82% of the net national rise in violence.
Balochistan saw fatalities rise from 787 to 956, an increase of nearly 22%.
In contrast, Punjab and Sindh recorded relatively low levels of violence, together accounting for less than 3% of total casualties, which CRSS said pointed to “relative containment of violence despite the provinces’ large populations.”
The report also flagged the spread of violence into previously calmer regions, with Azad Jammu and Kashmir recording 15 fatalities in 2025 after reporting no violence a year earlier.
MILITANT DEATH TOLL
CRSS said 2025 was also the deadliest year in a decade for militant groups, with outlaws accounting for more than 60% of all fatalities.
“2025 turned out to be the deadliest year for outlaws in a decade,” the report said, with 2,060 militants killed during at least 392 security operations, surpassing the combined fatalities of civilians and security personnel.
Security forces, however, remained the primary targets of militant groups.
The army and Frontier Corps recorded 374 fatalities, including 22 officers, while police suffered 216 casualties.
The TTP claimed responsibility for the largest share of attacks on security personnel, followed by the BLA, the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) and Daesh’s regional chapter.
