The suicide bombing, which killed five Chinese nationals and a Pakistani man in the Bisham Tehsil of Shangla District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday, has prompted the Chinese authorities to call for a thorough investigation into the terror incident.
According to a statement issued by the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan late Tuesday, “The Chinese embassy and consulates in Pakistan have immediately launched emergency work, demanding that the Pakistani side conduct a thorough investigation into the attack, severely punish the perpetrators and take practical and effective measures to protect the safety of Chinese citizens.”
An unidentified suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden vehicle into a convoy of Chinese engineers who were on their way from Islamabad to their camp in Dasu, said regional police chief Mohammad Ali Gandapur. He said that five Chinese engineers and their Pakistani driver were killed in the attack.
Gandapur, who had reached the scene soon after the suicide bombing and launched relief operations, said that other people in the convoy were rescued safely.
Bisham SHO Bakht Zahir confirmed the loss of six lives in the incident. He said it was a “suicide blast” and the security agencies were collecting the evidence. He said that security had been tightened in the area and bodies of those killed were being shifted to a hospital.
A Rescue 1122 official said the vehicle of the Chinese passengers fell into a gorge after the blast and caught fire. He said that a rescue team reached the scene and put out the fire.
Dr Rehmat Ali, a spokesperson at the Dasu project, said the Chinese nationals were identified as four men and a woman, adding that their bodies were being taken to Islamabad.
At least 13 people, including nine Chinese nationals, were killed in Upper Kohistan in July 2021. A coach carrying them to an under-construction tunnel site of the 4,300-megawatt Dasu hydropower project had fallen into a ravine after an explosion.
The Foreign Office initially termed the incident an accident, but the government later said traces of explosives were found. The information minister at the time said “terrorism could not be ruled out”.
