The Pakistan Army will raise another division-size special force to protect Chinese nationals and projects under the CPEC, military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor has said, days after the brazen terror attack on a luxury hotel in Balochistan.
Describing the USD50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a living example ofdeep-rooted friendship between Pakistan and China, Major General Ghafoor,Director General of the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), said thePakistan Army was fully determined to ensure the security of the project.Talking to the Chinese media in Rawalpindi on Saturday, he said the Pakistanmilitary had raised a whole division-size force to protect the project and theywere planning to deploy another division for this purpose.
Earlier reports said a Special Security Division (SSD)comprising 9,000 Pakistan Army soldiers and 6,000 para-military forcespersonnel has been set up for the security of the CPEC project and Chinesenationals working on it.
Ghafoor said Pakistan faced a very challenging war againstterrorism during the last two decades, and now the security situation was undercontrol.
Talking about the CPEC role in the country, he said theeconomic prosperity brought about by the CPEC will fail the motives ofterrorists, as with the success of project more employment and businessopportunities will be unveiled and with more economic opportunities coming in,people’s lifestyle will improve and inimical elements will fail gradually,China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported.He claimed that the security situation inBalochistan had improved since the launch of the CPEC and now there was abetter infrastructure, as many Chinese projects were underway, and with everycoming day security, development and investment situation will get better.