Bejing: China demanded on Wednesday that Pakistan beef up security for its citizens working in the country, as well as a thorough investigation and punishment of those responsible for the suicide assault at Karachi University that killed three Chinese teachers and injured another.
Chinese blood cannot be spent in vain, and those responsible for the attack will undoubtedly face the price, according to a Chinese foreign ministry official, who also strongly condemned the latest attack on Chinese people working in Pakistan.
A spokesperson for the university said that three of the victims were Chinese nationals. They were identified as Confucius Institute Director Huang Guiping, Ding Mupeng, Chen Sa and Khalid, the Pakistani driver.
The spokesperson added that two others — Chinese national Wang Yuqing and a Pakistani man Hamid — were injured in the blast.
A burqa-clad woman was seen standing outside the Confucius Institute’s door on CCTV footage from the attack. As the van approached the institute’s door, the woman detonated herself.
A spokesperson of the BLA, the separatist outfit which is banned in Pakistan, the UK and the US, said that the attack was carried out by Shari Baloch alias Bramsh – the “first female suicide bomber of the brigade”. The attack marks “a new chapter in the history of Baloch resistance,” he added.
A picture of the bomber in circulation showed the woman along with her two small kids.
In a purported video issued by the group, a BLA spokesman said that the motive of the attack was very clear.
“It was a simple and clear message to China and Pakistan to withdraw immediately from Balochistan,” said the masked spokesman surrounded by armed men on a hilly terrain.
“Baloch Liberation Army guarantees you the CPEC will fail miserably on Baloch land,” the spokesman, who was holding an assault rifle, said in fluent English. He warned that a special unit has been formed particularly to attack Chinese officials and installations in Balochistan.
Local people, the group claims, do not benefit from Chinese investment in Pakistan, particularly in restive Balochistan.
A long-running violent insurgency exists in Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan. Several attacks by Baloch rebel groups have targeted the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects in the past.
This isn’t the first time Chinese nationals have been targeted by terrorists in Pakistan’s largest metropolis and industrial hub, Karachi.
Thousands of Chinese personnel are working in Pakistan on a host of projects being carried out under the aegis of the CPEC.
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