Chinese companies halt hydropower projects in Pakistan after terror attack

Two more Chinese companies have stopped work on hydropower projects three days after five Chinese nationals were killed in a suicide attack in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to a media report on Friday, 29 March.

The development comes a day after Power Construction Corporation of China (PCCC) suspended civil works at the Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project in the Swabi district of KP province and laid off over 2,000 workers.

The Chinese were working on the Dasu hydropower project, which is about 300 km to the north of Islamabad. The 4,320 MW project is being constructed by China Gezhouba with funding from the World Bank.

Tuesday’s attack was the second suicide attack on the personnel working on the China-backed hydropower project since 2021.

After the Tarbela project, the Chinese companies have now suspended civil work at the Dasu and Diamer-Bhasha dams due to security concerns and about 1,000 Chinese engineers working on both the projects have stopped operations.

The local staff for both the projects has been directed to stay home till further orders, The News International reported.

An official working on the Dasu dam project confirmed that the Chinese company stopped work and local staff was asked to stay at home. The project employed around 741 Chinese and 6,000 locals.

Similarly, general manager of the 4,800 MW Diamer-Bhasha Dam (DBD) Nazakat Hussain also confirmed that the Chinese company had stopped work and said around 500 Chinese nationals were engaged in DBD but the Frontier Works Organisation staff, of about 6,000 locals, continues to work.

However, 250 Chinese engineers are still working on the Mohmand Dam in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the newspaper said quoting Asim Rauf, the general manager of the dam. “The Chinese have shown satisfaction over the security situation in the project area and they are working on the site,” he told The News International.

Thousands of Chinese personnel are working in Pakistan on several projects under the aegis of the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).