The longest tunnel of China-built Karakoram Highway relocation project was successfully dug through on Thursday.
The Logro-B tunnel, a 1,403-meter section of the Karakoram Highway linking Pakistan with China, is designed in compliance with Chinese tunnel design standards.
The realignment project of the existing Karakoram Highway is undertaken by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).
This project includes seven tunnels and three bridges in the mountainous area of northern Pakistan, where the natural conditions are harsh, due to frequent occurrence of disasters such as earthquakes and mudslides.
In the next phase, the project team will advance the remaining bridge and tunnel works to ensure the project's high-standard and high-quality completion.
The Karakoram Highway, located in Pakistan's northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, is also known as the China-Pakistan Friendship Highway. It is the only land route linking Pakistan with China.
China-built 1,403-meter highway tunnel dug through in Pakistan
Two major Qatari energy facilities shut down operations after being damaged during Iran's strikes targeting the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said on Tuesday, adding that the situation had been contained.
QatarEnergy announced on Monday that it had suspended liquefied natural gas (LNG) production following attacks on two of its energy facilities, and on Tuesday said it was suspending production of downstream natural gas products such as urea and methanol.
The shutdown sent gas prices skyrocketing on global energy markets, provoking fears of an energy crisis sparked by the conflict in the Middle East.
Speaking during his weekly press conference, Al-Ansari said that the decision to shut down the facilities was taken as a precaution, to ensure the safety of personnel and infrastructure after the strike damaged key production and processing sites.
"The damage was contained and now the operations to assess, technically, the safety of the facilities is underway. And from the defensive posture, as you have seen, we have been ready in monitoring and dealing with all of these attacks," he said.
Al-Ansari said that Qatar is committed to de-escalating the situation, and added that Qatar had not had any contact with Iran since Feb 28.
"Qatar's diplomatic stance has always been firm and clear: committed to peace, actively promoting de-escalation, advocating dialogue and consultation, and striving to resolve the conflict peacefully," he said.
Major Qatari energy facilities damaged in Iranian strikes: foreign ministry
