5 Chinese engineers killed in suicide bomb attack in Pakistan, probe under way

The victims had been identified as employees of Wuhan-based engineering firm China Gezhouba Group Co., said Rehmat Ali, a Dasu project official.

The bus was travelling in a convoy of a dozen vehicles, most of them carrying security personnel guarding the Chinese nationals, when it was struck.

No terrorist group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

It was the third major attack on Chinese interests in Pakistan in a week, after an airbase and a port were hit in the province of Balochistan.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has condemned the attack, saying Islamabad would carry on its fight against militants.

In July 2021, nine Chinese nationals working on the World Bank-funded Dasu project were killed in a vehicular suicide bombing.

Latest Pakistan terror attack casts light on growing cost of Chinese investment

Local resident Muhammad Hayat Khan said he was at home on Tuesday preparing for afternoon prayers when he heard two explosions.

Upon reaching the nearby highway, he found the burning remains of the bomber’s vehicle and the bus that was targeted.

Besham police chief Juma Rehman said an investigation had been launched.

“We will investigate from where and how the vehicle of the suicide bomber came and how it happened,” he said.

In a statement, Pakistan’s military described the terrorist attacks in Besham and Balochistan province as “dastardly acts aimed at destabilising the internal security situation”.

Addressing the killing of the five Chinese nationals in Besham, it said: “The whole nation stands in solidarity with our Chinese brothers and unequivocally condemn this cowardly act.”

The statement issued by Inter Services Public Relations said “strategic projects and sensitive sites” vital for Pakistan’s economic progress and the well-being of its people were being targeted “as a conscious effort to retard our progress and sow discord between Pakistan and its strategic allies and partners, most notably China”.

Pakistan’s military, which is responsible for the security of Chinese nationals working in the country, vowed to hold the perpetrators of the Besham attack accountable “with the unwavering support of … our ironclad ally China”.

“Together we will prevail over adversity and evil,” it added.

China’s embassy in Islamabad called on Pakistan to “thoroughly investigate the attack and severely punish the perpetrators” of the Besham attack.

In a statement, the embassy said it had activated an “emergency plan” under which “all necessary measures” were being taken to protect the safety of Chinese citizens, institutions and projects in Pakistan, and to “ensure such incidents will not happen again”.

It did provide any details.

The embassy reminded Chinese citizens and enterprises in Pakistan to “pay close attention to the security situation, enhance security alerts, strengthen security measures, and make every effort to take safety precautions”.

Pakistan averaged 1 militant attack every 14 hours last year. 976 people died

Farwa Aamer, director of South Asia Initiatives at the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York, said the Besham attack “highlights the persistent security risks faced” both by Pakistan and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

“These security concerns have long impeded CPEC’s progress, and the recent series of attacks further exacerbate these worries,” she said.

The onus was now on Pakistan’s new government to urgently address these challenges to “ensure the continuity and sustainability of the project and the larger Sino-Pakistan relationship, especially amid the backdrop of grave economic challenges”, Aamer said.

The latest attack comes a week before Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif is expected to make his first overseas official visit to Beijing since the Pakistani general election last month.

Sharif visited the Chinese embassy in Islamabad to personally express his condolences to Ambassador Jiang Zaidong.

Additional reporting by Tom Hussain and Reuters