China condemns attack on its nationals in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: China on Saturday asked Pakistan to take measures and overhaul the security mechanism to forestall attacks on its nationals working on various projects after a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of Chinese nationals in the Balochistan province in the second such attack in over a month.

In the attack, two children who were playing nearby were killed, while one Chinese national sustained injuries, the Chinese embassy in Islamabad said on Saturday.

The embassy strongly condemned Friday’s suicide attack on the convoy of Chinese nationals comprising four vehicles in Gwadar, the port city of strategic importance due to the presence of Chinese workers and investment.

The embassy said that it is “demanding Pakistan to properly treat the wounded, conduct a thorough investigation on the attack, and severely punish the perpetrators”.

“At the same time, relevant departments at all levels in Pakistan must take effective measures to implement strengthened security measures and upgrade security cooperation mechanism to ensure that similar incidents do not occur again,” the embassy said.

Pakistan said that the bomber targeted the convoy of Chinese nationals comprising four Chinese vehicles with integral security details of Pakistan army and police contingent on East Bay Expressway near fishermen’s colony in Gwadar.

At least 13 people, including nine Chinese, were killed in a terrorist attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa last month.