Suicide attack targets Chinese engineers’ bus
FIVE PEOPLE INCLUDING TWO CHINESE NATIONALS WOUNDED IN BALOCHISTAN
Asuicide attack yesterday in Southwest Pakistan targeted a bus carrying Chinese engineers, wounding at least five people including two Chinese nationals, officials said.
The attack came in Dalbandin region, around 340 kilometres from Quetta, the capital of southwestern Balochistan province, when the Chinese engineers working on a mineral project were being transported to the city.
Local administration and police officials told AFP that two paramilitary soldiers providing security the driver of the bus were wounded in the attack alongside the two Chinese nationals.
“The attacker, waiting in a small truck along the route, exploded the vehicle when the bus carrying Chinese engineers came close to him,” Dostain Dashti, a senior police officer in the region, told AFP on phone.
Body blown up
He said that the body of the suicide attacker was blown up in the attack and his vehicle caught fire.
Saifullah Khaitran, a senior local administration official, confirmed the attack, adding that the condition of all the injured was stable.
He added that the engineers were working on the Saindak project, a joint venture between Pakistan and China to extract gold, copper and silver from an area close to the Iranian border.
Baloch insurgents later claimed responsibility of the attack.
“We targeted this bus which was carrying Chinese engineers,” Jiand Baloch, a spokesperson for Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) told AFP by phone.
“We attacked them because they are extracting gold from our region, we won’t allow it,” he said.