China has deployed private security personnel to Pakistan for the first time to protect its workers and engineers after a rise in militant attacks.
According to India Today, the security firms involved are Dewe Security Frontier Service Group, China Overseas Security Group, and Huaxin Zhongshan Security Service. These companies are now under contract to protect Chinese workers at various China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project sites across the country.
The $65 billion CPEC project is a major part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and includes roads, energy plants, and infrastructure projects. Thousands of Chinese nationals are currently working on these projects across the country.
The deployment of Chinese security personnel comes in response to escalating violence from Baloch militants, including the bombing of a Pakistani military bus that killed at least 90 soldiers and the hijacking of the Jafar Express train, with militants claiming to have killed over 200 hostages.
Bystanders look at the wreckage of a bus in Noushki town of Balochistan province, Pakistan, on Monday, a day after an explosives laden car hit one of the seven buses of a convoy, a bombing carried out allegedly by the separatist group Baloch Liberation Army. Separatists in… pic.twitter.com/mxRrlcVXpB
— Gulf Today (@gulftoday) March 17, 2025
In recent months, attacks on Chinese nationals have also intensified. In March 2024, a suicide bombing in northwest Pakistan killed five Chinese workers. In October 2023, two Chinese engineers were killed in an attack at Karachi airport.
Separatist groups, especially in Balochistan province, have claimed responsibility for several of these attacks. They accuse China of helping Pakistan exploit local resources.
Despite these incidents, Pakistan’s Foreign Office denied reports that Chinese forces had been deployed. “I completely deny this. No Chinese forces are being deployed in Pakistan,” said spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan, speaking to Arab News on Sunday. “This is totally false and there is no credibility to these reports.”
He added that security discussions with China are ongoing and that protecting Chinese workers is a priority.
