Japanese workers in Pakistan escape blast
Suicide bomber kills at least one bystander in what officials describe as a ‘heinous act of terrorism.’
KARACHI, Pakistan — A suicide bomber targeted a van carrying Japanese nationals Friday in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi, police said. The Japanese nationals escaped unharmed, but three bystanders were injured and at least one has died, officials said.
Initially, police said the van was heading to an industrial area where the five Japanese nationals worked when it came under attack, local police chief Arshad Awan said. Police escorting the Japanese returned fire, killing a second attacker, the bomber’s accomplice, he said.
“All the Japanese who were the target of the attack are safe,” Awan added.
Police initially said the five worked at Pakistan Suzuki Motors but later corrected that statement, saying it was another factory.
Images on local news channels showed a damaged van as police officers arrived at the scene.
The three passersby who were wounded in the attack were taken to the hospital, where one died. The others were said to be in stable condition.
The Foreign Ministry said two Pakistani nationals were killed in the attack, contradicting the statements from police and hospital officials. The discrepancy could not immediately be reconciled.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced the attack in separate statements, praised police for their quick response and vowed to eliminate terrorism. They also offered prayers for the victims.
The Foreign Ministry confirmed that the Japanese nationals were unhurt and said it “strongly condemns this heinous act of terrorism. All necessary measures will be taken to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
“Pakistan remains committed to ensuring the safety of foreign nationals residing in the country,” the ministry said.
The van was given a police escort following reports of possible attacks targeting foreigners working in Pakistan on Chinese-funded and other projects, said Tariq Mastoi, a senior police officer. He said a quick response from the guards and police foiled the attack, and both attackers were killed.
No one immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on separatists or the Pakistani Taliban, which has stepped up attacks on security forces in recent years.
Insurgents have also targeted Chinese nationals working in Pakistan on projects relating to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, such as road construction, power plants and agriculture.
In March, five Chinese and their Pakistani driver were killed when a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden car into a vehicle as they were heading to Dasu Dam in the northwest of Pakistan, the biggest hydropower project in the country, where they worked.
Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, is the capital of southern Sindh province.
Separately, an Afghan Taliban religious scholar, Mohammad Omar Jan Akhundzada, was killed Thursday by gunmen inside a mosque in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province, local police officer Akram Ullah said.
No one claimed responsibility for that attack.
Chief Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid on Friday denounced the killing of Akhundzada, saying he taught at a jihadi seminary in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province and was a member of the Taliban oversight committee of Islamic scholars.
Many Afghan leaders and scholars lived in Quetta and elsewhere in Pakistan before the Afghan Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021, as U.S. and NATO forces withdrew. Most then went back.
It was not clear why Akhundzada was still in Pakistan.