China halts work on two projects in Pakistan following suicide attack that killed 5 Chinese
File photo of Pakistani and Chinese flags.
A Pakistani official said on Friday (Mar 29) that China has halted construction on two major dam projects in Pakistan after five Chinese engineers were killed in a suicide bombing in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province earlier this week.
Speaking to the news agency AFP, a senior official from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Interior Department said, "They have demanded new security plans from the government."
The attack
On Tuesday (March 26), the Pakistani police said that a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into a convoy of five Chinese engineers working on a dam project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Citing authorities, a report by the news agency Reuters said that the engineers were en route from Islamabad to their camp at the dam construction site in Dasu.
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The bombing killed the engineers as well as their driver, who was a Pakistani national. This was the third major attack on Chinese interests in Pakistan in a week. The first two attacks targeted a Pakistan naval air base and a strategic port used by China in the southwest province of Balochistan where Beijing is investing billions in infrastructure projects.
China urged Pakistan to thoroughly investigate the suicide bombing.
Pakistan PM calls for joint probe
On Wednesday, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called for a joint investigation by military and civilian officials into Tuesday's attack.Sharif had chaired a meeting of military and civilian officials that reviewed security arrangements for the protection of Chinese nationals and their interests, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told Reuters but did not give any further details.
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No group claimed responsibility for Tuesday's suicide bombing.
Dasu, the site of a major dam, has been attacked in the past, with a bus blast in 2021 killing 13 people, nine Chinese among them, although no group claimed responsibility.
(With inputs from agencies)