Pakistani security forces at the site of the bombing in which the five Chinese were killed (French)

ISLAMABAD

- Five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver were killed on Tuesday in a bombing that targeted their car in the Shangla area of ​​Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, northwestern Pakistan.

Pakistani media quoted provincial police officials as saying that the dead Chinese worked as engineers in hydroelectric projects, as they were heading from Islamabad to Dasu in the province.

Police officials said that a car bomb collided with the car carrying the Chinese engineers, killing them, and seriously wounding the Pakistani driver, after which he died.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the attack and offered his condolences to the families of those killed and the Chinese government.

In turn, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited the Chinese embassy in Islamabad and offered condolences to the Chinese ambassador, and also sent a message of condolence to the Chinese President and the Prime Minister.

Both Zardari and Sharif stressed that such attacks targeting the country's stability and Pakistan-China relations will not affect Pakistan's relations with China, and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

In this context, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry described the attack as a heinous terrorist act, and said that Islamabad will take all necessary measures to bring the terrorists and those who help them to justice, stressing that the bombing was planned by those it described as enemies of the Pakistani-Chinese friendship.

Wreckage of the car carrying the five Chinese engineers (French)

Comprehensive investigation

For its part, China condemned the attack that killed its five citizens, describing it as terrorist, and asked Pakistan to conduct a comprehensive investigation.

The Chinese Embassy in Islamabad said in a statement that the Embassy and Consulates General in Pakistan immediately prepared a contingency plan, and will take all necessary measures to protect the safety of Chinese citizens, Chinese institutions and projects in Pakistan, and to ensure that such incidents do not occur again.

Over the past years, Pakistan has witnessed the expansion of the targeting of Chinese citizens and engineers who work in Chinese projects, as armed groups target these projects and their workers to put pressure on the Pakistani government, and also on China, to withdraw its investments from the country.

A bombing carried out by a woman in April 2022 targeting a bus killed 5 people, including 3 Chinese, in front of a Chinese institute at Karachi University in Sindh province, southern Pakistan.

A similar incident in July 2021 led to the death of 13 people, including 9 Chinese, in the Kohistan region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, northwestern Pakistan.

Source: Al Jazeera