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Suicide bomb attack in Pakistan kills 2 children, injures Chinese national

2021-08-21 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-亚洲原网页

SHANGHAI (REUTERS) - A suicide bomb attack in Pakistan on a motorcade carrying Chinese personnel injured one Chinese national and killed two local children, the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad said on Saturday (Aug 21).

"The Chinese Embassy in Pakistan strongly condemns this act of terrorism, extends its sincere sympathies to the injured of both countries, and expresses its deep condolences to the innocent victims in Pakistan," it said in a statement.

The attack took place on Friday at the Gwadar East Bay Expressway project in Balochistan, the embassy said. Several wounded people were treated at a local hospital, it said.

The embassy called on the Pakistan authorities to conduct a thorough investigation of the attack. No group has claimed responsibility for the incident.

In July, a suicide bomber attacked a bus carrying workers to a dam construction site in northern Pakistan, killing 13 people, including nine Chinese nationals.

Pakistan's foreign minister said Pakistani Taleban militants known as Tehrik-e-Taleban Pakistan were behind that attack. The group told Reuters it was not involved.

Beijing is investing more than US$65 billion (S$88.6 billion) in infrastructure projects in Pakistan as part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, under its wider Belt and Road initiative.

"China is firmly opposed to all forces that use terrorism as a means to get geopolitical benefit," a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement in response to last month's attack.

A Chinese tabloid run by the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily described the bus blast as the most serious attack on Chinese nationals in recent years.