Pak arrests 2 in terror attack on Chinese consulate

Press Trust of India  |  Karachi 

Two persons have been arrested in in connection with the recent terror attack on the here in which seven people, including three militants, were killed, said Sunday.

The investigation agencies found that one of the slain militants, Razzaq Baloch, belonged to Kharan district of the restive province, it said.

Raids were carried out in different areas of Kharan on Saturday and and Khosti were taken into custory, the report said.

Home said that Razzaq Baloch's name was on the missing persons' list over the past two years.

A large number of people mentioned in the list had gone aboard for terrorism training, he said.

The claimed that BLA Aslam alias Acho had been injured in a gun battle with security forces last year, but he managed to escape.

On Friday, three heavily-armed suicide bombers stormed the Chinese consulate, killing four people including two policemen before being shot dead by security forces which foiled the daring attack in the high-security zone.

Nine hand grenades, assault rifles, magazines and explosives were recovered from the possession of the terrorists.

Resource-rich Balochistan is at the heart of the ambitious USD 60 billion China-Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The CPEC is a string of huge infrastructure investments by in which will link its western province with the port of Gwadar in Balochistan.

Over the years, construction projects and Chinese workers in Balochistan have been repeatedly targeted by militants but this was one of the most prominent attacks to date.

China's foreign ministry strongly condemned the attack on its consulate and urged its all-weather ally to take "practical measures" to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens in the country, mostly on projects linked to the CPEC.

Hundreds of Chinese nationals are presently working in Pakistan specially in and the Balochistan.

It was the first major terror strike in since March, 2016 when 45 Ismaili Muslims were killed in a targeted attack.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Sun, November 25 2018. 19:15 IST