ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry revealed Thursday that traces of explosives had been detected during an initial investigation into a bus explosion that killed 13 people, including nine Chinese workers, and said a terrorist attack could not be ruled out as the cause of the incident.
Wednesday’s blast sent the bus crashing into a ravine in Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where, for several years, Chinese engineers have been working on hydroelectric projects as part of Beijing’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative.
The revelation came in stark contrast to Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s statement who a day earlier blamed the incident on a mechanical failure, but Fawad tweeted: “Initial investigations […] have now confirmed traces of explosives. Terrorism cannot be ruled out.”
Initial investigations into Dassu incident have now confirmed traces of explosives,Terrorism cannot be ruled out,PM is personally supervising all developments,in this regard Govt is in close coordination with Chinese embassy we are committed to fight menace of terrorism together
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) July 15, 2021
Prime Minister Imran Khan is “personally supervising all developments”, the minister said, adding the government was in “close coordination” with the Chinese embassy in Islamabad.
“We are committed to fight[ing] menace of terrorism together.”
On Wednesday, while security officials had said the nature of the blast was still under investigation, the Chinese embassy said its nationals had come under “attack”. Later that day, Zhao Lijian, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, had called the blast a “bomb attack”.
Today, Lijian told a regular briefing that China will send a team to Pakistan to cooperate closely with Pakistan in the investigation.
BEIJING BACKS AWAY FROM CALLING INCIDENT BOMB ATTACK:
Meanwhile, senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi met Qureshi, who is in Tajikistan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Council of Foreign Ministers meeting, on the sidelines of the event late on Wednesday and urged him to investigate the blast.
While Yi stopped short of calling the incident an attack, he told Qureshi that if it was indeed a “terrorist attack,” Islamabad should immediately arrest the culprits and punish them severely, according to a post shared on Thursday on the website of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Qureshi, however, responded that the initial probe showed that the incident was not a terrorist attack.
“He [Qureshi] said preliminary investigation shows that it’s an accident and no background of terrorist attacks has been found,” the statement read.
Yi, who is China’s State Councillor and foreign minister, said “lessons should be learned” and both sides should strengthen security measures for China-Pakistan cooperation projects to ensure their safe and smooth operation.
Qureshi said Beijing was Islamabad’s “most important friend and most reliable partner, and China’s loss is Pakistan’s loss”.
“Pakistan will spare no effort to rescue and treat the wounded, thoroughly investigate the truth of the incident, lose no time in sharing the progress of the investigation with China, and do its utmost to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel in Pakistan,” the statement quoted the foreign minister as saying.
China is a close ally and major investor in Pakistan, and various anti-Pakistan militants, backed by India, have in the past attacked Chinese projects.
The Chinese workers killed on the bus were employed at the Dasu Hydropower Project, part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a $65 billion investment plan aiming to link western China to the port of Gwadar.
AFP, Reuters contributed to this report
WHY THEN FM QUERTY assuring Chinese that it was not a terrorist attack neither by RAW, ISI, TLP, nor any Taliban has reported me personally just it was pure accident! relax all Chinese will be rest in peace!
Now, let’s wait for Interiors minister pipe khan what he announces?