PESHAWAR: Five Chinese nationals were killed in a suicide blast in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province today. The suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a convoy of Chinese engineers that was on way to their camp at Dasu from Islamabad.
The convoy that came under attack was carrying staff of construction firm China Gezhouba Group Company working at the Dasu hydropower project. The same firm was targeted in 2021 when a blast on a bus had killed 13 persons, including nine Chinese nationals.
Condemning the attack, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari said, “Forces hostile to Pakistan will never succeed in harming Pakistan-China friendship.” He conveyed condolences to the families of the five Chinese nationals. In Pakistan, security has been provided to all CPEC projects and also to non-CPEC projects where Chinese are working.
In August 2023, a convoy of Chinese engineers was attacked in Balochistan province by armed rebels. In another attack in May 2021, a burqa-clad Baloch woman suicide bomber killed four persons, including three Chinese nationals, in an attack on a minibus carrying staff from the China-built Confucius Institute at Karachi University.
In April 2021, a suicide bomb attack at a luxury hotel hosting the Chinese ambassador in Quetta killed four and wounded dozens.