Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stops Chinese nationals from travelling without armoured vehicles

Pakistan'sKhyber Pakhtunkhwa province has stopped Chinese nationals from travelling in the province without armoured vehicles, Dawn newspaper reported on Wednesday (May 1), citinga senior police official.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in Hazara range Tahir Ayub Khan said that, even as the police were adoptingall possible measures for the safety of Chinese nationals, they should not travel inKhyber Pakhtunkhwawithout armoured vehicles.

The report said that DIG Khan and other officialspaid a visit totheSuki Kinari and Balakot hydropower projects.

He alsoattended security meetings for the hydropower projects in Malkandi and Ghanool.

The participants included security personnel, Chinese engineers, and managers of the two projects, the report added.

The DIG further said that theboundary walls of residential colonies, where Chinese nationals lived, would not be less than eight feetand might be topped with barbed wires.

Khan also said that the security personnelwould protect the lives of the Chinese engineers by all means.

The topcop'sremarks came in the backdrop offive Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driverbeing killedby a suicide bomber inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa on March 26.

According to the police,a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a convoy of Chinese engineers which was on its way fromIslamabad to their camp in Dasu.

The attacktook placein the Shangladistrict’sBesham city, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

China has invested billions in infrastructure projects as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and several Chinese engineers have been working on several projects in the South Asian country.

(With inputs from agencies)