- Says whole nation saddened over loss of Chinese lives as people of Pakistan and China bound by enduring bond
- Army chief says military will take all-out measures for safety of Chinese citizens in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Vowing a thorough joint investigation, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to utilize all state resources to bring the perpetrators of the Besham suicide attack to justice.
The attack claimed six lives, including five Chinese engineers who were working on the Dasu Hydel Power Project.
The prime minister offered deepest condolences to the families of the victims, assuring that the attackers of the barbaric act would be brought to justice swiftly.
Chairing a high-level emergency meeting in the aftermath of the attack, the prime minister appreciated the law enforcement agencies and locals for swift response to save several precious lives.
The meeting was attended by Chief of the Army Staff Gen Asim Munir as well as federal ministers, chief ministers, chief secretaries, and inspector generals of police of respective provinces, a PM Office press release stated.
The meeting discussed in detail the heinous attack on civilians working on a development project that would ensure energy and water security in Pakistan.
The prime minister underscored the enduring bond between the people of Pakistan and China and conveyed that the whole nation was saddened by the loss of Chinese lives.
He stated, “Terrorism is a trans-national threat that has been instrumentalized by the enemies of Pakistan to stymie Pakistan’s progress and development. The acts targeting Pakistan-China friendship are particularly aimed at creating mistrust between the two iron brothers.”
The participants of the meeting expressed resolute commitment to completely rooting out terrorism from the country and expressed serious concerns over sanctuaries available to terrorists across the borders. They emphasized the need for a regional approach to countering terrorism.
COAS reiterates resolve to eliminate scourge of terrorism
Strongly reacting to Shangla terrorist attack which claimed six lives including five Chinese nationals, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir said that the military “shall not leave any stone unturned to ensure that every foreign citizen, especially the Chinese nationals — contributing to the prosperity of Pakistan — is safe and secure in the country”.
The army chief reiterated the resolve of armed forces to eliminate the scourge of terrorism afflicting the country during an emergency meeting chaired on Wednesday by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the aftermath of Shangla’s Besham city terrorist attack on Chinese nationals working on Dasu Hydel Power Project, read a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office today.
The army chief said that the nation had steadfastly fought the war on terror for the last two decades and had defeated the nefarious designs of Pakistan’s adversaries.
Noting the recent surge in terrorist incidents, COAS Munir remarked that the enemies of Pakistan had once again “underestimated the resilience and grit of the state and the people of Pakistan”.
He added: “We shall fight terrorism till every terrorist casting an evil eye on Pakistan, its people and their guests, is eliminated; we shall not leave any stone unturned to ensure that every foreign citizen, especially the Chinese nationals, contributing to the prosperity of Pakistan, is safe and secure in Pakistan. We shall fight terrorism with all our might, to the very end.”
Official says security tightened in Besham
Separately, Besham Station House Officer (SHO) Bakht Zahir Khan informed the media that his department had finalised and submitted their report to the Swat Counter Terrorism Department to lodge an FIR against the perpetrators of the attack.
“We have obtained the CCTV footage from the bus and are investigating the matter. It has been confirmed that the silver Toyota Vitz used in the attack, which was laden with around nine kilogrammes of explosives, rammed one of the Chinese buses,” the SHO said.
He added that security has been tightened in sensitive areas of Bisham, particularly around Chinese foreign projects.
Meanwhile, China’s ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong visited a construction cmap of the Dasu project, where he met Chinese nationals and observed a minute of silence to pay condolences to the victims.
Water and Power Development Authority Chairman (rtd) Lt General Sajjad Ghani also accompanied him on the visit.
Enemies in region can’t accept strengthening of Pak-China ties: Zardari
President Asif Ali Zardari also visited the Chinese Embassy today and offered condolences on behalf of the government and people of Pakistan.
According to a press release issued by the President’s secretariat, Zardari strongly condemned yesterday’s terrorist attack, adding that the Pakistani nation shared the grief of the Chinese people.
He stated that the people of Pakistan stood in solidarity with the Chinese people in the hour of grief.
“This incident was orchestrated by the enemies of Pakistan-China friendship,” he said. adding that enemies in the region couldn’t accept Pakistan and China strengthening their bilateral ties.
He assured the Chinese Ambassador that the criminals involved in the “gruesome act would be apprehended and brought to justice”.
Zardari further said that all necessary measures would be taken to ensure the security of the Chinese citizens working on various projects in Pakistan.
The attack
A day earlier, hours after security forces successfully fended off an attack by Baloch terrorists on a Pakistan Navy base in Turbat district of Balochistan, a vehicle-borne suicide bomber targeted a convoy escorting Chinese engineers in the remote Besham area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), killing six people.
The Chinese engineers were en route from Islamabad to their camp in Dasu – the district headquarters of the Upper Kohistan district of KP. Their vehicle was hit by an explosives-laden vehicle, coming from the opposite direction, near Lahore Nala on the Karakoram Highway.
According to a Chinese Embassy statement, a Chinese company’s bus, carrying staff, working on the Dasu Hydropower Project, was hit by a terrorist attack at around 1 pm. Malakand Deputy Inspector General Muhammad Ali Gandapur confirmed the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber.
The Chinese engineers’ vehicle was thrown off the mountainous road into a deep ravine by the impact of the blast, killing all six on board, including five Chinese engineers and their Pakistani driver. The security forces reached the spot, shut the strategic highway for traffic on both sides and launched an investigation.
According to a footage of the suicide attack on the bus of Chinese engineers in Besham, the suicide attack on the bus took place at 4:18:00 pm. It can be seen in the video that as soon as the bus tried to overtake a car, the suicide bomber in the car blew himself up.
Participants of the meeting expressed resolute commitment to completely rooting out terrorism from the country.
They also expressed serious concerns over sanctuaries available to terrorists across the borders and emphasised upon the need for a regional approach for countering terrorism.
The session concluded with the participants reiterating the resolve to comprehensively combat terrorism employing all resources available to the state.
