Tuesday’s incident was the third major attack in just over a week
Islamabad, Pakistan:
Chinese investigators arrived in Pakistan on Friday to take part in the investigation into the killing of five Chinese citizens in a suicide attack, Pakistan’s interior ministry said, trying to prevent an attack that threatened Islamabad’s drive to modernize its economy.
Tuesday’s incident was the third major attack on China’s interests in the South Asian country in little more than a week. Beijing has invested more than $65 billion in infrastructure projects in the country as part of its broader Belt and Road Initiative.
The statement said Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met with the Chinese investigation team at the embassy in Beijing and briefed them on the investigation so far.
At the end of 2022, the two allies began a joint investigation into attacks against Chinese citizens and their interests that year, and such attacks have increased in recent months.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attack. In the attack, a suicide bomber rammed a car into a convoy of Chinese engineers working on the Dasu hydropower project in northwest Pakistan, killing six people.
The explosion followed an attack on March 20 on a strategic port used by China in the southwestern province of Balochistan, where Beijing has invested billions of dollars in infrastructure projects; on March 25 , a naval air base also located in the southwest was also attacked. Both attacks were claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the most prominent of several separatist groups in Balochistan.
Dasu, home to a large dam, has been hit by attacks in the past, including a bus bombing in 2021 that killed 13 people, nine of them Chinese, but no group claimed responsibility.
Chinese contractors suspended work on three hydropower projects due to security concerns following Tuesday’s attacks, a government official said, adding that this was routine practice after such incidents.
Pakistan is home to two insurgencies, one by Islamist militants and the other by ethnic separatists seeking to split the country, who accuse the government of unfair distribution of natural resources in the southwestern province of Balochistan.
China’s interests are mainly under attack by ethnic minority militants seeking to drive Beijing out of mineral-rich Balochistan province, which is far from the site of Tuesday’s blast.
Officials say Pakistan has set up a dedicated police and military force to ensure security at Chinese events.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
