The dead Chinese engineers were working on a dam project in Pakistan, police said.
Five Chinese nationals and a Pakistani driver were killed in a suicide bombing in northwestern Pakistan. The attack took place on the vehicle of Chinese engineers from Islamabad to Dasu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday. Police said the victims were working on a dam project in Pakistan.
Regional police chief Mohammad Ali Gandapur told Reuters news agency that five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver were killed in the suicide bombing.
This is the third attack on Chinese interests in the South Asian country. Earlier, an airbase and a strategic port in Balochistan province were attacked. China has invested hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure projects in this southwestern province of Pakistan.
Dasu is a major dam area and has been attacked before. In 2021, a bus explosion killed 13 people, including 9 Chinese nationals.
Beijing is investing $6,500 million to build various infrastructures in Pakistan under the Belt and Road Project of Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Chinese engineers are working on these projects.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack. Even during the 2021 attack, no one claimed responsibility. Two insurgent groups are currently active in Pakistan—one is Islamist and the other is ethnic armed forces; who are separatists.
Ethnic armed groups want to oust Beijing from mineral-rich Balochistan. However, they usually raided the southern and southwestern parts of Pakistan, far from where they are today. In the north-western part of the country where the convoy was attacked, there are mainly activities of Islamists.
According to reports, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police have reached the spot and are carrying out rescue operations.
According to a separate police source, the vehicle that was attacked was carrying employees of the Chinese construction company Gezhoba Group Company (CGGC). They were working on Dasu Hydropower project. This same institution was targeted in 2021. Construction was halted for months after the attack.
The Chinese embassy in Islamabad did not immediately comment on the incident.
A week later, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif is scheduled to visit Beijing, the Prime Minister’s Office said. This will be Sharif’s first visit to China since the formation of the coalition government after the election last February.