news

cover news reporter li qinhua

the official website of the chinese embassy in pakistan issued a statement in the early morning of october 7, saying that at about 11 pm local time on sunday (october 6), a convoy of the chinese-funded enterprise port qasim power generation co., ltd. encountered a terrorist attack near jinnah international airport in karachi. . so far, two chinese personnel have been killed, one chinese personnel has been injured, and many pakistani personnel have been injured.

in the statement, the chinese embassy and consulate in pakistan defined the explosion as a "terrorist attack." the chinese embassy and consulates in pakistan have initiated emergency response work as soon as possible, requiring pakistan to make every effort to treat the injured, conduct a thorough investigation of the attack, and severely punish the perpetrators. at the same time, practical and effective measures must be taken to ensure the safety of chinese citizens, institutions, and projects in pakistan. .

on the evening of october 6, a chinese-funded enterprise’s convoy encountered a terrorist attack near jinnah international airport in karachi. source: screenshot of live video

karachi is pakistan's largest city with a population of over 20 million. some local media reported that explosions could be heard in large areas of the city. the province's interior minister told local pakistani television that this was an attack on foreigners. mahesar, the local deputy inspector general, told the media that this appeared to be an accident caused by an explosion in a tanker truck. he said, "the nature and cause of the explosion are currently being determined."

roads leading to jinnah international airport were blocked following the attack, but pakistan's civil aviation authority said karachi airport would continue to operate as normal.

the aforementioned pakistani media quoted provincial officials as saying that the nature of the explosion was not yet clear. however, reuters reported that the pakistani separatist armed group baluchistan liberation armed forces (bla, referred to as "bla") claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement, saying that it used a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device to launch the attack. is "a high-level fleet of chinese engineers and investors."

previously, on november 23, 2018, the chinese consulate general in karachi, pakistan, suffered a terrorist attack. militants carrying explosives tried to break into the consulate but failed. two pakistani policemen were killed in the crossfire. there are reports that the balochistan liberation army claimed responsibility for the incident.

founded in 2004, bj is currently the most active terrorist organization in pakistan. its base is located in balochistan, which accounts for 43% of the total area of ​​pakistan. it is rich in mineral resources such as copper, gold, oil and natural gas, and borders iran and afghanistan. however, it is the least economically developed among the four provinces of pakistan.

ye hailin, director of the south asia research center of the chinese academy of social sciences, once pointed out in a paper that the balochistan advocates using violent means to fight for rights from the pakistani government, demanding a greater share in the distribution of interests in balochistan’s mineral resources, and ending their role in government recruitment. discriminatory practices, local forces playing a greater substantive role in gwadar construction projects, etc.

the article pointed out that balochistan is currently the region where china's overseas interests are most severely affected by terrorism, and balochistan is the main threat to china's overseas interests in this region.

according to partial data collected by the south asia anti-terrorism portal (satp), as of july this year, at least 97 people, including 17 civilians and 59 members of the security forces.

this is not the first time that a chinese-funded company has suffered a terrorist attack in pakistan.

in march this year, there were three major attacks in pakistan within a week targeting projects undertaken and participated by chinese companies. among them, at 1 pm local time on march 26, a terrorist attack occurred on the vehicles of the dasu hydropower station project in cape province, which was constructed by china gezhouba group corporation, killing five chinese personnel and one pakistani personnel.

pakistani prime minister shahbaz personally visited the chinese embassy in pakistan on the afternoon of the incident to express his condolences to the families of the victims and the chinese government.

although no group claimed responsibility for the attack, pakistani officials stated on may 26 that the attack was planned and carried out by the tehreek-e-taliban pakistan (ttp) from afghanistan. subsequently, pakistan said it had arrested 11 militants responsible.

the chinese embassy and consulates in pakistan remind chinese citizens, enterprises, and projects in pakistan to be more vigilant, pay close attention to the local security situation, strengthen security measures, and make every effort to take safety precautions.

the "joint statement of the people's republic of china and the islamic republic of pakistan" issued in june this year clearly stated that china and pakistan are all-weather strategic partners and "iron" friends, and any attempt to undermine china-pakistan friendship and cooperation between the two countries will never will succeed.

according to plan, pakistan will host the shanghai cooperation organization (sco) summit in two weeks from october 15th to 16th. it will be the largest gathering of world leaders held in the country since the 2012 summit of developing countries.

[if you have news clues, you are welcome to report them to us. once adopted, we will be rewarded. follow us on wechat for reporting materials: ihxdsb, qq for reporting materials: 3386405712]