Two Chinese citizens were killed in an explosion near Pakistan’s Karachi airport

Two Chinese citizens were killed and at least 10 injured after a suspected suicide attack near Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan on Sunday night.

The BBC said a third body, which has not been officially identified, is believed to be that of the attacker.

The Chinese Embassy in Pakistan said the explosion was a “terrorist attack” targeting a convoy of Chinese engineers working on a power project in the country’s Sindh province.

The separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which in recent years has carried out attacks against Chinese nationals involved in development projects, claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a statement released on Monday, the militant group said it had “targeted a high-level convoy of Chinese engineers and investors” arriving from Karachi airport.

A later statement by the group described it as a suicide attack and named the perpetrator as Shah Fahad, part of a BLA suicide squad called the Majeed Brigade.

Reuters quoted BLA as saying the attack was carried out using “a homemade explosive device in a vehicle”.

The explosion occurred at around 23:00 local time (17:00 GMT) on Sunday.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called the attack a “heinous act” and sent condolences to the Chinese people.

“Pakistan is committed to protecting our Chinese friends,” he wrote on X.

The Chinese Embassy said the engineers were members of the Chinese-funded enterprise Port Qasim Power Generation Co Ltd, which aims to build two coal power plants at Port Qasim, near Karachi.

Thousands of Chinese workers are in Pakistan, many of them involved in creating an economic corridor between the two countries as part of Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative.

The Port Qasim plant is part of the corridor, along with several infrastructure and energy projects in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, which has rich supplies of natural resources, including gas and minerals. .

The BLA along with other Baloch ethnic groups have fought a long insurgency to demand a separate homeland.

It regularly targets Chinese nationals in the region, arguing that ethnic Baloch residents do not receive their share of assets obtained from foreign investors.

The Chinese Embassy on Monday reminded Chinese citizens and businesses in Pakistan to be vigilant and “try our best to take safety precautions”. The embassy added that it hoped Pakistan would thoroughly investigate the attack and “severely punish the murderer”.

The explosion was said to have been heard in various areas around the city, with footage from local media showing thick smoke and cars on fire.

Online images showed security officials and firefighters investigating the blast site, with several vehicles charred black by the blast.

Police surgeon Dr Summaiya told Dawn News: “Ten injured people, including one in critical condition, were taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical College. [JPMC].”

She added that the injured included a police officer and a woman.

A statement posted on about the incident.

Roads leading to Jinnah International Airport were blocked after the attack, but the airport was operating normally on Monday.

Security has also been enhanced in Pakistan it is preparing to host a leaders summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

There have been many attacks against Chinese citizens in Pakistan in recent years. The BLA has claimed responsibility for some of them, including a March attack on a Pakistani naval air base near Gwadar port, another key feature of the China-Pakistan economic corridor.

In April 2022, the group killed three Chinese tutors and a Pakistani driver in an incident. suicide bombing near the Confucius Institute of Karachi University.

In November 2018, gunmen killed at least four residents attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi.