Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday ordered to tighten security for power transmission lines, following incidents of sabotage and nationwide power supply breakdown.
The prime minister chaired a high-level meeting here on the power breakdown that has affected most parts of the country for over a week.
An official statement said the prime minister directed that comprehensive measures be taken to avert recurrence of power breakdown in future.
Sharif directed that a technical report of the power blackout be presented to him within 48 hours.
Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif told the media that the situation has gradually improved and power supply would be fully restored across Pakistan by Monday evening.
The minister said power installations were attacked thrice in the past ten days by terrorists.
Meanwhile, thousands of terror suspects have been picked up by law enforcement agencies in an ongoing nationwide crackdown in Pakistan, according to security sources.
The country launched an anti-terrorism national action plan in the week of a deadly Taliban attack on an army public school last month that left 135 children dead.
Close to 10,000 suspects have been rounded up across the country, media reports said.
More than 3,000 clerics and prayer leaders have also been held for questioning for their role in promoting militany, accordng to the reports.
More than 3,650 Afghan refugees, suspected of involvement in terror-related activities, have also been taken into custody.
Law enforcement agencies, in coordination with intelligence agencies, have reportedly conducted around 9,912 search operations in central Punjab province and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
In Islamabad, police have arrested 150 suspected militants as well as dozens of prayer leaders for violating rules related to use of loudspeakers and making hate speeches.
