ISLAMABAD: The Interior Ministry has issued a notification for the establishment of a Special Security Division (SSD) for the protection of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
According to an official of the Planning Division, a deployment order will be issued by the ministry after requisition from the provinces.
A CPEC parliamentary committee was told in August 2016 that the Special Security Division would comprise 15,000 troops, including 9,000 Pakistan Army soldiers and 6,000 paramilitary forces personnel.
Defence Ministry officials told the committee that the SSD has been assigned the responsibility of protecting Chinese workers and CPEC projects.
The government had earlier allocated Rs 1.3 billion for CPEC security in addition to the efforts made by the provincial governments, the committee was told.
According to officials briefing the committee, the cost of raising the SSD was Rs 0.5 billion.
