Shrouq Tariq
A suicide bombing targeting a vehicle carrying Chinese nationals in Gwadar in the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan has killed two Pakistani children playing by the roadside, the interior ministry and police said.
A Chinese national and two other Pakistanis were wounded in the attack in Balochistan province. Hours after the bombing, the separatist Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the bombing in the port town of Gwadar. The BLA identified the suicide attacker as Sarbland Baloch alias Umer Jan.
Sources said the Chinese nationals, who were working on the under-construction East-Bay Expressway, were returning to their camp when the vehicle was hit by the blast.
Police said it was a suicide attack and the vehicle carrying Chinese nationals was the target of the bomber.
The deceased were identified as Salman, 10, Salman Haider, 11. Three out of four injured included Kafa, 30, Aswad and Sameer Anwar 13.
According to the statement, both Pakistan and China recognise the threats posed to their cooperation and collaboration towards growth and development of their communities under the evolving regional environment. Cognisant of hostile designs, government of Pakistan is already undertaking a comprehensive review of security of Chinese nationals and is committed to ensuring their safe stay in Pakistan in this journey of progress.“We reaffirm to our Chinese brothers our wholehearted endeavours to deal with these threats comprehensively. In this hour of distress, while we are saddened by injury to our Chinese brother and loss of innocent Pakistani children, both countries stand together firmly in defeating the inimical acts aiming to undermine our cooperation and friendship,” it said.
Shrouq Tariq is the Research Analyst and writer at Matrix Media. Her work has been published in number of national and international newspapers . She’s also a member of the Matrix Media editorial board. She is currently completing her MPhil in Defence and Strategic Studies from Quaid-i-Azam university. She tweets at @shrouqtariq
