By – Prakarsh Kastwar
Five citizens of China lost their lives in a suicide bombing in Pakistan.
Tuesday’s explosion during a suicide bomber’s attack on their convoy in northwest Pakistan claimed the lives of five Chinese people.
According to regional police commander Mohammad Ali Gandapur, who was reported by Reuters, the suicide bomber crashed an explosives-laden car into a convoy of Chinese engineers who were making their way from Islamabad to their camp in Dasu, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver were killed in the attack,” Gandapur said in a statement.
For several years, Chinese engineers and Pakistani construction workers have collaborated on hydropower projects in the western province of Khyber-Paktunkhwa as part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Dasu, home to a major dam project, has been the target of prior attacks.
In 2021, the incident in Dasu killed nine Chinese nationals and two Pakistani children. The incident occurred when a Chinese bus carrying engineers and workers to the Dasu Hydropower Project site was targeted.
Initially, there was misunderstanding over the nature of the attack, with some sources claiming it was a bus accident. However, subsequent investigations revealed that it was a terrorist act. A blast struck the bus, sending it down a ravine.