Pakistani investigators take picture of the body of attacker at the site of a suicide attack in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, April 19, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest near a van carrying Japanese autoworkers, who narrowly escaped the attack on April 19 that wounded three bystanders in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi, police said.

The van had been heading to an industrial area where the five Japanese nationals worked at Pakistan Suzuki Motors, local police chief Arshad Awan said. He said police escorting the Japanese returned fire after coming under attack, killing an accomplice of the suicide bomber whose remains were found from the scene of the attack.

“All the Japanese who were the target of the attack are safe,” he said.

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced the attack on the Japanese nationals. In separate statements, they praised police for quickly responding and foiling the attack. They also vowed to eliminate terrorism and prayed for the speedy recovery of those wounded in the attack.

Images on local news channels showed a damaged van, as police officers arrived at the scene of the attack. Mr. Awan said the three passersby who were wounded in the attack were in stable condition at a hospital.

Police were escorting the van after receiving reports about possible attacks on foreigners who are working in Pakistan on various Chinese-funded and other projects, said Tariq Mastoi, a senior police officer. He said a timely and quick response from the guards and police foiled the attack and both attackers were killed.

No one immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on a small separatist group or the Pakistani Taliban who have stepped up attacks on security forces in recent years. Insurgents have also targeted Chinese who are working in Pakistan on projects relating to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which includes a multitude of megaprojects such as road construction, power plants and agriculture.

In March, five Chinese and their Pakistani driver were killed when a suicide bomber in northwest Pakistan rammed his explosive-laden car into a vehicle when they were heading to the Dasu Dam, the biggest hydropower project in Pakistan, where they worked.

However, Japanese working in Pakistan have not been the target of any such attacks.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif interacts with engineers of the China Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC) working at the Dasu Hydropower project in Upper Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on April 1, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on April 1 said his government would ensure foolproof security measures for the Chinese nationals working across the country, days after five Chinese workers were killed in a suicide attack in the country’s restive northwest.

A vehicle-borne suicide bomber targeted a convoy of Chinese engineers in the remote Besham area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on last Tuesday, killing five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver.

“I want to assure you that the government of Pakistan will not leave any stone unturned, will not spare any opportunity to make sure you get the best possible security for your families and yourself,” Mr. Sharif told a gathering of the Chinese engineers and workers at the site of Dasu Hydropower Project in Kohistan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province during a visit to express solidarity with them.

He declared exemplary punishment for the perpetrators of the March 26 incident, so that it would be a lesson and that no one could commit such a dastardly act in future.

At least 12 persons, including the mastermind, have been arrested in connection with the blast.

No group had claimed responsibility for the terror attack. However, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Counter-Terrorism Department blamed the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan for the assault.

Terming it a job of the enemies of Pakistan, Prime Minister Sharif said that it was a dastardly act on part of the perpetrators who found every opportunity to harm this friendship which was strengthening by each passing day and expanding and moving forward with speed.

“That is the reason enemies do not spare any opportunity to damage and create a wedge between the two iron brothers,” he added.

The prime minister said that the sole purpose of his visit was to offer sincere condolences and express feelings to the Chinese brothers and sisters in Dasu.

He said it was a cowardly act on part of the terrorists to kill innocent Chinese and a Pakistani for no other reason except to disturb and damage the exceptional friendship between Pakistan and China.

Mr. Sharif said that his government would not leave any stone unturned and would not spare any opportunity to ensure the best possible security measures for the Chinese families and nationals.

He said that after the incident, he had visited the Chinese embassy immediately to offer condolences on behalf of his government and the people of Pakistan to the Chinese leadership and the Chinese people.

He informed that a joint investigation team was also constituted on the same day and its report was due any time, adding that his government would not waste time to act upon the recommendations of the inquiry.

Besides, a high level security meeting was held on March 27 in which they discussed better coordination with the provincial governments over the additional security measures, he added.

The prime minister said that Pakistan-China friendship would march forward in unison and the enemies of the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and this exceptional relationship would be defeated completely.

Speaking on the occasion, Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong said that the prime minister visited the embassy and reassured security for the Chinese nationals. He also expressed gratitude to the government and people of Pakistan for expressing solidarity, adding that they were ready to work together to further build their strategic partnership.

The gathering also observed 30-second silence for those who lost lives in the tragic incident.

Federal Ministers Amir Muqam and Attaullah Tarar as well as members of the Chinese company and senior officials were also present on the occasion.

Security officials inspect the wreckage of a vehicle which was carrying Chinese nationals that plunged into a deep ravine off the mountainous Karakoram Highway after an attack near Besham city in the Shangla district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on March 26, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Five Chinese nationals working on a major dam construction site were killed along with their driver on March 26 when a suicide bomber targeted their vehicle in northwest Pakistan, officials said.

Their vehicle plunged into a deep ravine off the mountainous Karakoram Highway after the bomber rammed his car into them and detonated his explosives, police said.

Beijing has poured billions of dollars into Pakistan in recent years, but Chinese-funded projects have sparked resentment and their citizens have frequently come under attack.

Images shared with AFP show smoke rising from the valley, near Besham city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

“Five Chinese and their local driver were killed in the attack,” Muhammad Ali Gandapur, a senior provincial police official, told AFP.

He said the vehicle was travelling between the Dasu hydroelectric dam site, under construction by the China Gezhouba Group Company, and the capital Islamabad.

Zahid Khan, a senior local police official, told AFP that “a suicide bomber crashed his vehicle into theirs”.

“The vehicle caught fire and plunged down the ravine,” he said.

In 2021, a bus carrying engineers to the same construction site was hit by a bomb, killing 13 people including nine Chinese workers.

The attack on March 26 comes days after security forces killed at least seven militants as they attempted to storm the offices of Gwadar Port in southwest Pakistan, considered a cornerstone of Chinese investment.

Militants also killed one soldier as they attempted to storm a major naval air base in the country’s southwest, Pakistan’s military said on March 26.

“Strategic projects and sensitive sites vital for Pakistan’s economic progress and the well-being of its people are being targeted as a conscious effort to retard our progress and slow discord between Pakistan and its strategic allies and partners, most notably China,” the Army said.

The Chinese embassy in Islamabad described the bombing as a “terrorist act” in a statement reported by Chinese state media.

“The Chinese embassy and consulates in Pakistan strongly condemn this terrorist act, and express deep condolences for the victims of both countries and extend sincere sympathies to the families of the victims,” the embassy said.

‘Plotted to disrupt’

Beijing is Islamabad’s closest regional ally, readily providing financial assistance to bail out its often struggling neighbour.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has seen tens of billions of dollars funnelled into massive transport, energy and infrastructure projects — part of Beijing’s transnational “Belt and Road” scheme.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and as well as Pakistan’s Interior and Foreign Ministers arrived at China’s embassy in Islamabad within hours of the bombing.

“Once again, the adversaries of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) have plotted to disrupt it through such cowardly acts,” Mr. Sharif said in a statement.

“However, they will never succeed in their malevolent ambitions.”

Separatist groups say locals see little benefit from major Chinese projects, with most jobs going to outsiders.

The security of Chinese workers has long been of concern to both countries.

“The Chinese workers were already scared and feared that another attack was coming,” said Azeem Khalid, a Chinese investment expert at COMSATS University Islamabad.

“With every such incident, the speed of the project will be slower.”

In 2019, gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in Balochistan province overlooking the flagship Chinese-backed deep-water seaport in Gwadar that gives strategic access to the Arabian Sea — killing at least eight people.

In June 2020, Baloch insurgents targeted the Pakistan Stock Exchange, which is partly owned by Chinese companies, in the commercial capital of Karachi.

China ‘strongly condemns terrorist act’

China on March 26 said it strongly condemned the attack.

“The Chinese embassy and consulates in Pakistan strongly condemn this terrorist act, and express deep condolences for the victims of both countries and extend sincere sympathies to the families of the victims,” the embassy said in a statement.

Peshawar:

At least seven Pakistan Army soldiers including two officers, were killed when six terrorists launched multiple suicide attacks on a security check post in the restive tribal district of North Waziristan bordering Afghanistan on Saturday, the military said.

A Lieutenant Colonel and a Captain were killed along with five soldiers. All the six terrorists who attacked the check post in Mir Ali area were shot dead.

According to the ISPR statement, after the troops foiled the initial attempt of intrusion, the terrorists rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the post, followed by multiple suicide bombing attacks.

During the subsequent clearance operation, troops effectively engaged and killed all six terrorists.

However, during the intense exchange of fire, Lieutenant Colonel Syed Kashif Ali and Captain Muhammad Ahmed Badar were killed, the statement said.

The military’s media wing said a sanitisation operation was being conducted to eliminate any other terrorists present in the area.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur condemned the attack and expressed grief over the death of the soldiers.

According to an annual security report issued by the Centre for Research and Security Studies, Pakistan witnessed 1,524 violence-related fatalities and 1,463 injuries from 789 terror attacks and counter-terror operations in 2023 – marking a record six-year high.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces were the primary centres of violence, accounting for over 90 per cent of all fatalities and 84 per cent of attacks, including incidents of terrorism and security forces operations.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)