SHANGHAI (Reuters) – A suicide bomber in Pakistan attacked a motorcade of Chinese personnel on Friday, killing one Chinese national and two local children, the Chinese embassy said on Saturday.
“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 attack took place at the Gwadar East Bay Expressway project in Balochistan, the embassy said. Several wounded people were sent to a hospital in Gwadar for treatment, it said.
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.
(Reporting by Josh Horwitz; Editing by William Mallard)
