Gwadar bombing: Chinese embassy presses Pakistan to ‘punish perpetrators’
Three people were killed in suicide attack on Friday
A damaged vehicle seen at the site of a blast in Gwadar. Photo: Xinhua
The Chinese Embassy in Pakistan has strongly condemned the suicide bombing in Gwadar which claimed three lives on Friday night.
“On August 20, at the Gwadar East Bay Expressway project in Balochistan, Pakistan, a motorcade carrying Chinese personnel was attacked by a suicide bomber,” it said in a statement issued Saturday. “One Chinese was injured, two local children were killed and several others were injured.”
The embassy extended its “sincere sympathies to the injured of both countries and expressed its deep condolences to the innocent victims in Pakistan.”
It asked Pakistan to properly treat the wounded, conduct a thorough investigation of the attack, and severely punish the perpetrators.
Pakistan departments “must take practical and effective measures to accelerate to implement strengthened whole-process security measures and upgraded security cooperation mechanism”. The country must ensure that similar incidents will not happen again.
It noted that several terrorist attacks have been reported in succession, resulting in the casualties of several Chinese citizens. “The Chinese Embassy in Pakistan reminds the Chinese citizens in Pakistan to be vigilant, strengthen safety precautions, reduce unnecessary outings, and take effective security protections,” the statement read.
Gwadar bombing
“A convoy of Chinese nationals comprising three Chinese vehicles with integral security details of Pakistan army and police contingent was targeted in a cowardly attack on East Bay Expressway in Gwadar in the evening,” the interior ministry said in a statement after the bombing.
“The incident took place along the coastal road near a Fishermen Colony. A young boy ran out of the colony once the convoy reached there to target Chinese vehicles. Fortunately, soldiers of Pakistan army in plain clothes employed as hang around security rushed to intercept the boy who immediately exploded himself about 15-20 meters away from the convoy, ” the statement said.
“Resultantly, a Chinese national got injured who was rushed to nearest Gwadar Hospital. Unfortunately, two innocent children playing nearby the incident site lost their precious lives while another two children who received critical injuries were rushed to the hospital,” it said.
Last month, 13 people including nine Chinese were killed when a suicide bomber targeted a bus carrying workers to the Dasu Dam site in Upper Kohistan.
The bus fell into a ravine after the bombing leading to confusion over the nature of the event. Pakistani officials later confirmed that it was a suicide attack.
Dasu attack was traced back to two Quetta brothers who had been living in Lahore.
