ISLAMABAD: The Chinese embassy “strongly condemned” the attack targeting a motorcade carrying Chinese nationals in Balochistan on Friday that killed two local children and injured one Chinese worker.
The suicide blast took place at the East Bay Road in the port city of Gwadar around 7:00 pm (GMT+5).
Hours after the attack, Baloch Liberation Army, an India-funded terrorist group, claimed responsibility. “BLA carried out a ‘self-sacrificing’ attack against a convoy of Chinese engineers,” it said in a statement.
In a statement issued Saturday, the embassy asked Pakistan to upgrade its safety measures to ensure such incidents don’t happen again.
“The Chinese Embassy in Pakistan strongly condemns this act of terrorism, extends its sincere sympathies to the injured of both countries, and expresses its deep condolences to the innocent victims in Pakistan,” it said.
The mission “launched the emergency plan immediately, demanding Pakistan to properly treat the wounded, conduct a thorough investigation on the attack, and severely punish the perpetrators,” the statement noted.
Pakistan is already undertaking a comprehensive review of the security of Chinese nationals in the country, the Ministry of Interior said in a statement issued after the attack.
“At the same time, relevant departments at all levels in Pakistan must take practical and effective measures to accelerate to implement strengthened whole-process security measures and upgraded security cooperation mechanism to ensure that similar incidents will not happen again,” the embassy said.
“Recently, the security situation in Pakistan has been severe […] resulting in the casualties of several Chinese citizens,” the statement added.
China has in recent years played a key role in developing the deep-water port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea. But, there have been some attacks on Pakistani and Chinese officials working on projects related to China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Last month, a bus carrying Pakistani and Chinese workers fell into a ravine in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after a suicide bomber targeted the vehicle. Nine Chinese and four Pakistanis were killed in the attack.
After initially suggesting that the incident was an accident, the government earlier this month said a suicide bomber had attacked the bus which was carrying Chinese workers to the under-construction Dasu dam.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said last week that India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Afghanistan’s National DirÂectorate of Security (NDS) intelligence agencies were behind the attack.
