KARACHI, Pakistan — A massive blast that targeted a convoy of Chinese workers in Pakistan’s largest city killed two of them, Beijing’s embassy said on Monday, in an attack claimed by a separatist group.
Beijing is a crucial ally of cash-strapped Pakistan, but Chinese-funded infrastructure projects have sparked resentment and its citizens are routinely targeted by militant groups.
A “tanker” exploded on an airport motorway in the port city of Karachi at about 11 p.m. (local time) on Sunday, the regional government of southern Sindh province said on X.
In a statement, separatist militant group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) said it had “targeted a high-level convoy of Chinese engineers and investors” coming from the international airport.
Karachi borders Balochistan province, the largest but poorest region of the South Asian country, where billions of dollars have been funneled into transport, energy and infrastructure projects as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The BLA is waging a war of independence against the state, which it accuses of permitting unfair exploitation of resources by outsiders in the mineral-rich region.
In August, it carried out coordinated attacks across Balochistan that killed dozens of mostly Punjabis, the largest ethnic group in Pakistan, who were working in the region.
Security strain
China’s embassy in Pakistan said in a statement on Monday that two of its citizens had been killed in a “terror attack” on a convoy of personnel from the Chinese-funded Port Qasim power project.
The attack also left another Chinese and several Pakistanis wounded, it added.
The embassy urged authorities to “conduct a thorough investigation of the attack and severely punish the killers, while at the same time taking practical measures to fully ensure the safety of Chinese citizens, institutions and projects.”
Beijing has repeatedly asked Islamabad to ensure the safety and security of Chinese citizens and its interests.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it “reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the safety and security of Chinese nationals.”
Sunday night’s attack comes a week before Pakistan hosts several heads of government for a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, a bloc established by Russia and China to deepen ties with Central Asian states.
Beijing is Islamabad’s closest regional ally, readily providing financial assistance to bail out its often-struggling neighbor.
The CPEC has seen tens of billions of dollars channeled into massive transport, energy and infrastructure projects, which are part of Beijing’s transnational Belt and Road Initiative.
A suicide bomber killed five Chinese engineers working on the construction of a dam in northwestern Pakistan in March, temporarily pausing the project.
The attack was not claimed, but it came days after militants attempted to storm offices of the Gwadar deepwater port at the other end of the country, considered a cornerstone of Chinese investment in Pakistan.
In June 2020, Baloch insurgents targeted the Pakistan Stock Exchange, which is partly owned by Chinese companies, in Karachi.
In 2019, gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in Balochistan that overlooks the flagship Chinese-backed deepwater seaport in Gwadar that gives strategic access to the Arabian Sea, killing at least eight people.
