A suicide bomber detonated his explosives on Friday close to a vehicle carrying Chinese nationals in Pakistan’s restive southwestern Balochistan province, killing at least two children and wounding three persons, including a Chinese, in the second such attack in over a month.
The attack took place in the Baloch Ward area in Gwadar, the port city of strategic importance due to the presence of Chinese workers and investment, a senior government official and police said.
“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 in a statement.
The embassy called on Pakistan’s authorities to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident and severely punish the perpetrators.
In July, a suicide bomber attacked a bus carrying workers to a dam construction site in northern Pakistan, killing 13 people, including nine Chinese.
Pakistan’s foreign minister said Pakistani Taliban militants known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan were behind those attacks. The TTP told Reuters it was not involved..
Beijing is investing over $65 billion in infrastructure projects in Pakistan as part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, under its wider Belt and Road initiative.
A Chinese tabloid run by the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily called the bus blast the most serious attack on Chinese nationals in recent years.
