ISLAMABAD: Pakistani officials and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Mariano Grossi have agreed to expand cooperation on the use of nuclear technology to mitigate the impacts of climate change, the Pakistani foreign office said on Sunday.
The IAEA director general arrived in Pakistan this week on a days-long official visit to hold discussions with key officials, attend seminars and visit a nuclear power generation site.
During the visit, he called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Deputy PM Ishaq Dar as well as heads of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA).
“Discussions focused on expanding cooperation between Pakistan and the IAEA, particularly on the peaceful uses of nuclear technology to mitigate climate change,” the foreign office said in a statement.
Pakistan — home to more than 240 million people — ranks among the nations that are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The South Asian country has seen erratic changes in its weather patterns which have led to frequent heat waves, untimely rains, cyclones and droughts in recent years. Scientists have blamed the events on human-driven climate change.
In 2022, devastating floods, blamed on human-driven climate change, killed more than 1,700 Pakistanis, affected another 33 million and caused the country over $30 billion in economic losses.
During his meetings with the PAEC and PNRA chiefs, Grossi was briefed on Pakistan’s advancements in nuclear science and technology, including its contributions in agriculture, health care and energy production.
The IAEA chief visited the under construction Chashma Power Plant Unit 5 (C-5) along the left embankment of the fast-flowing Indus River in Mianwali.
“He termed Pakistan’s nuclear power generation program as one of the most successful programs in the world,” the foreign office said. “Mr. Grossi also inaugurated a radioactive waste incinerator at Chashma.”
In Islamabad, the IAEA chief attended the International Conference organized by the Pakistan-chapter of Women in Nuclear Field (WIN-Pakistan) and delivered a keynote address at a seminar on the “Role of Nuclear Science and Technology in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals,” organized by the think-tank Strategic Vision Institute (SVI).
He also visited the Institute of Nuclear Medicine & Oncology Lahore (INMOL) and inaugurated a new radiopharmaceutical laboratory and announced technical assistance to Pakistan under the IAEA’s ‘Rays of Hope’ initiative.
The IAEA, the United Nations (UN) nuclear watchdog, promotes the safe and peaceful use of nuclear technology worldwide. Pakistan has collaborated with the agency since 1957 and operates a civil nuclear power program under IAEA safeguards.
While Pakistan is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), it has voluntary safeguards agreements with the IAEA and actively works to ensure its nuclear facilities comply with international safety standards.
Pakistani officials, IAEA chief agree on use of nuclear technology to mitigate climate woes
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Pakistani officials, IAEA chief agree on use of nuclear technology to mitigate climate woes
- IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi met senior officials and inaugurated a radioactive waste incinerator in Pakistan this week
- Pakistan has been collaborating with the agency since 1957 and operates a civil nuclear power program under IAEA safeguards
‘Look ahead or look up?’: Pakistan’s police face new challenge as militants take to drone warfare
- Officials say militants are using weapons and equipment left behind after allied forces withdrew from Afghanistan
- Police in northwest Pakistan say electronic jammers have helped repel more than 300 drone attacks since mid-2025
BANNU, Pakistan: On a quiet morning last July, Constable Hazrat Ali had just finished his prayers at the Miryan police station in Pakistan’s volatile northwest when the shouting began.
His colleagues in Bannu district spotted a small speck in the sky. Before Ali could take cover, an explosion tore through the compound behind him. It was not a mortar or a suicide vest, but an improvised explosive dropped from a drone.
“Now should we look ahead or look up [to sky]?” said Ali, who was wounded again in a second drone strike during an operation against militants last month. He still carries shrapnel scars on his back, hand and foot, physical reminders of how the battlefield has shifted upward.
For police in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the fight against militancy has become a three-dimensional conflict. Pakistani officials say armed groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), are increasingly deploying commercial drones modified to drop explosives, alongside other weapons they say were acquired after the US military withdrawal from neighboring Afghanistan.
Security analysts say the trend mirrors a wider global pattern, where low-cost, commercially available drones are being repurposed by non-state actors from the Middle East to Eastern Europe, challenging traditional policing and counterinsurgency tactics.
The escalation comes as militant violence has surged across Pakistan. Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) reported a 73 percent rise in combat-related deaths in 2025, with fatalities climbing to 3,387 from 1,950 a year earlier. Militants have increasingly shifted operations from northern tribal belts to southern KP districts such as Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Dera Ismail Khan.
“Bannu is an important town of southern KP, and we are feeling the heat,” said Sajjad Khan, the region’s police chief. “There has been an enormous increase in the number of incidents of terrorism… It is a mix of local militants and Afghan militants.”
In 2025 alone, Bannu police recorded 134 attacks on stations, checkpoints and personnel. At least 27 police officers were killed, while authorities say 53 militants died in the clashes. Many assaults involved coordinated, multi-pronged attacks using heavy weapons.
Drones have also added a new layer of danger. What began as reconnaissance tools have been weaponized with improvised devices that rely on gravity rather than guidance systems.
“Earlier, they used to drop [explosives] in bottles. After that, they started cutting pipes for this purpose,” said Jamshed Khan, head of the regional bomb disposal unit. “Now we have encountered a new type: a pistol hand grenade.”
When dropped from above, he explained, a metal pin ignites the charge on impact.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Raza Khan, who narrowly survived a drone strike during construction at a checkpoint, described devices packed with nails, bullets and metal fragments.
“They attach a shuttlecock-like piece on top. When they drop it from a height, its direction remains straight toward the ground,” he said.
TARGETING CIVILIANS
Officials say militants’ rapid adoption of drone technology has been fueled by access to equipment on informal markets, while police procurement remains slower.
“It is easy for militants to get such things,” Sajjad Khan said. “And for us, I mean, we have to go through certain process and procedures as per rules.”
That imbalance began to shift in mid-2025, when authorities deployed electronic anti-drone systems in the region. Before that, officers relied on snipers or improvised nets strung over police compounds.
“Initially, when we did not have that anti-drone system, their strikes were effective,” the police chief said, adding that more than 300 attempted drone attacks have since been repelled or electronically disrupted. “That was a decisive moment.”
Police say militants have also targeted civilians, killing nine people in drone attacks this year, often in communities accused of cooperating with authorities. Several police stations suffered structural damage.
Bannu’s location as a gateway between Pakistan and Afghanistan has made it a security flashpoint since colonial times. But officials say the aerial dimension of the conflict has placed unprecedented strain on local forces.
For constables like Hazrat Ali, new technology offers some protection, but resolve remains central.
“Nowadays, they have ammunition and all kinds of the most modern weapons. They also have large drones,” he said. “When we fight them, we fight with our courage and determination.”
