ISLAMABAD: Five Chinese and a Pakistani national were killed on Tuesday in a terrorist attack near Besham in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, as the Chinese government sought a thorough investigation, severe punishment to the perpetrators, and practical measures to protect Chinese citizens in the country.
While confirming the tragic attack, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that the Government of Pakistan strongly condemns this heinous act of terrorism.
“We will take all necessary measures to bring the terrorists and their facilitators to justice. Such dastardly acts cannot dent the resolve of the Pakistani nation to fight against the scourge of terrorism,” she said.
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She said that the attack was orchestrated by the enemies of Pakistan-China friendship.
“We will resolutely act against all such forces and defeat them,” Baloch added.
She stated that the people and government of Pakistan stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our Chinese friends in this difficult time and extend sincere condolences to the families of the Chinese nationals killed in the attack.
“Pakistan and China are close friends and iron brothers. The life and safety of Chinese nationals in Pakistan is of paramount importance,” she said.
She added that Pakistan will continue to work with “our Chinese brothers in ensuring the safety and security of Chinese nationals, projects, and institutions in Pakistan.”
Meanwhile, China’s embassy demanded a thorough investigation into the attack.
In a statement, a spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy stated that the 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.
Giving details, the embassy stated that at around 1:00 pm on 26th March local time, a Chinese company’s bus carrying staff on the Dasu Hydropower Project in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province was hit by [a] terrorist attack, five Chinese citizens, and one Pakistani citizen were unfortunately “deceased”.
The embassy and Consulates General in Pakistan expressed deep condolences to the victims and sincere sympathy to the bereaved families.
It further said that they were making every effort to handle the aftermath together with the Pakistani side.
It added that meanwhile, all necessary measures are being taken to protect the safety of Chinese citizens, institutions and projects in Pakistan, and to ensure such incidents do not happen again.
In addition to this, the embassy reminded Chinese citizens, (and) enterprises in Pakistan to pay close attention to the security situation, enhance security alerts, strengthen security measures, and make every effort to take safety precautions.
No terrorist outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
Earlier in 2021, 13 people, including nine Chinese nationals were killed in a terrorist attack on Dasu dam site which is being constructed with Chinese help.
Political and military leadership, including President Asif Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Army Chief Asim Munir, and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar strongly condemned Tuesday’s terrorist attack and vowed to bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice and ensure the protection and security of the Chinese nationals and projects in the country.
Prime Minister Shehbaz also visited the Chinese Embassy to convey condolences over the killing of five Chinese nationals in the terrorist attack and assured a swift and high-level probe into the incident.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024