Pakistan Plans Special Force To Protect Chinese Workers Of Water Projects: All You Need To Know

Last Updated:May 25, 2026, 13:41 IST

The initiative is being codified under "The WAPDA Security Force Bill, 2026", which was introduced in National Assembly by Federal Minister for Water Resources Wattoo

The Pakistani government has officially introduced legislation in parliament to establish a new, dedicated ‘Wapda Security Force’ to safeguard major water infrastructure projects and their workers, primarily targeting the protection of Chinese nationals.

News18 explains.

What is the WAPDA Security Force?

The initiative is being codified under “The WAPDA Security Force Bill, 2026", which was introduced in the National Assembly by Federal Minister for Water Resources Muhammad Mueen Wattoo, Dawn newspaper reported.

The force will operate as a standalone, specialized agency headed by a Director General, specifically tailored to oversee the assets of Pakistan’s Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA).

It will provide CPEC-level security cover to vital and sensitive water sector installations across the country, most notably massive hydropower projects such as the Dasu and Diamer-Bhasha dams.

Why the unit?

The dedicated unit was established following intense friction with Beijing after several militant attacks disrupted multi-billion dollar water projects. These include fatal suicide bombings targeting Chinese engineers working on the Dasu Hydropower Project in late 2021 and March 2024.

Previous attacks had prompted Chinese state corporations to completely suspend operations at major dam locations for over a year due to security lapses, inducing massive cost escalations for Islamabad, according to reports.

While the Pakistan Army already operates two special security divisions specifically to protect standard China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) transport and energy routes, the government determined that WAPDA’s highly remote water infrastructure projects required an entirely distinct, specialized framework.

This move complements broader diplomatic negotiations in early 2026, during which Pakistan also established a standalone Special Protection Unit (SPU) in Islamabad and agreed to deeper intelligence sharing to ease Beijing’s rising anxieties over worker safety.

What is CPEC?

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a multi-billion-dollar bilateral infrastructure network designed to connect Kashgar in northwestern China to the deep-sea Gwadar Port in southwestern Pakistan.

Launched in 2015, CPEC functions as a 3,000-kilometer-long sea-and-land corridor. It is considered the flagship project of China’s broader Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The strategic goal for Beijing is to bypass the heavily choked Straits of Malacca, slashing oil and cargo transit distances from the Middle East to China by thousands of kilometers. Financially, the project’s valuation ballooned from an initial $46 billion to over $62–$65 billion.

Its major developments span four key pillars:

Energy: Coal, solar, and hydroelectric mega-dams to resolve Pakistan’s chronic power deficits.

Infrastructure: Massive transit networks including the Karachi-Lahore motorway expansions and the Lahore Orange Line Metro.

Gwadar Port: Developing a fully operational deep-sea shipping hub and international airport.

Special Economic Zones (SEZs): Industrial clusters meant to drive manufacturing and local jobs.

Ongoing Chinese Projects in Pakistan

• Completed: 43 projects (valued at roughly $24.7 billion) have been wrapped up and are functional.
• Under Construction: 8 to 23 projects are actively ongoing or under-implementation depending on specific sectoral classifications.
• Stalled/Delayed: Roughly one-third of envisioned projects remain untouched or delayed. This is largely due to Pakistan’s ongoing economic crisis, local policy gridlocks, and rising security constraints.

Attacks on Chinese Nationals and Interests

Security has become the most fragile component of CPEC. Separatist and insurgent groups—principally the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), alongside factions like the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)—have systematically targeted Chinese interests. They argue that the projects exploit regional natural resources without benefiting local populations.

Major CPEC Incidents: 8 large-scale terrorist attacks directly targeting CPEC infrastructure and personnel occurred in a single four-year window (2020–2024), resulting in 62 deaths. Over a wider decade-long span, at least 19 Chinese nationals have been assassinated.

High-Profile Assaults:

October 2024: A BLA suicide car bomb struck a convoy outside Karachi International Airport, killing two Chinese engineers.

March 2024: A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a convoy in Besham (KP), killing five Chinese engineers working on the Dasu Hydropower project.

April 2022: A female suicide bomber targeted a vehicle outside the University of Karachi’s Confucius Institute, killing three Chinese academics.

July 2021: A bomb blast targeted a worker bus heading to the Dasu dam, claiming the lives of nine Chinese engineers.

With agency inputs

News explainers Pakistan Plans Special Force To Protect Chinese Workers Of Water Projects: All You Need To Know

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