China has condemned the suicide bombing that killed five of its citizens in Pakistan. Beijing said that it would continue working on the flagship China-Pakistan Economic Corridor under the Belt and Road Initiative.
“China opposes all forms of terrorism and firmly supports Pakistan in its efforts to combat terrorism,” China’s ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement.
The Chinese government has reiterated that it would protect the security of Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan.
“China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic cooperative partners and ‘ironclad’ brothers, and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has made significant contributions to Pakistan’s economic and social development. Any attempt to undermine China-Pakistan cooperation will never succeed,” the ministry added.
On Tuesday, a suicide bomber had rammed a vehicle into a convoy of Chinese engineers working on a dam project in northwest Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday, killing six, police said. Five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver were killed.
The Pakistan government has condemned the attack and said that Islamabad would continue to fight against terror. After the blast, Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif visited the Chinese embassy and promised to carry out investigation.
“We will swiftly investigate the incident and punish the perpetrators severely. We will never allow the evil plot to undermine the steadfast friendship between Pakistan and China to succeed,” he added.
Attacks on Chinese interests have risen over the past week.
There have been attacks targeting a naval airbase and a strategic port in the southwest province of Balochistan, where China has invested billions in infrastructure projects.
So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack took place in the same area where in July 2021 a suicide bomber on a bus killed 13 people, including nine Chinese workers. More than 20 Chinese personnel were injured in that attack.
