Advertisement

       SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

       Supported by

       SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

       Suicide Bomber Kills 5 Chinese Workers in Pakistan

       The assault comes amid a spate of terror attacks in Pakistan, as the country’s faltering ties to the Taliban affect regional security.

       Share full article

       Read in app

       Security personnel inspect the site of a suicide bomber attack in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province on Tuesday.Credit...Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

       By Salman Masood and Christina Goldbaum

       Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan, and London.

       March 26, 2024

       阅读简体中文版阅读繁体中文版

       Get it sent to your inbox.

       Five Chinese workers were killed on Tuesday when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into their convoy in northern Pakistan, the latest in a string of terrorist attacks highlighting the security challenges Pakistan faces in protecting Chinese personnel.

       The Chinese laborers were working on the Dasu dam, a hydropower project on the Indus River in the northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The convoy was moving to Dasu from Islamabad and came under attack around 1 p.m., officials said.

       Over the past week, terrorist attacks also struck a Pakistani military air base and a strategic port in the southwest of the country, where China has invested billions in infrastructure projects. The string of attacks has challenged the close economic and strategic ties between the two countries.

       China is estimated to have spent some $62 billion on projects in Pakistan, mostly to build a transportation corridor through Baluchistan to a new Chinese-operated deepwater port in the Pakistani town of Gwadar.

       Advertisement

       SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

       It was the second-deadliest attack on Chinese laborers working on the dam project, after a previous suicide attack on a convoy in 2021 killed nine Chinese workers. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack on Tuesday. The driver of the vehicle was also killed.

       “This latest attack on Chinese nationals in Pakistan heightens growing fears in Beijing about the bleak future of its tens of billions in investments in the country,” said Kamran Bokhari, a senior director of Eurasian security and prosperity at the New Lines Institute in Washington.

       Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like.

       A correction was made on March 26, 2024

       : Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to the project the Chinese laborers were working on when the attack occurred. It was a dam project, not a port project.

       When we learn of a mistake, we acknowledge it with a correction. If you spot an error, please let us know at nytnews@nytimes.com.Learn more

       Christina Goldbaum is the Afghanistan and Pakistan bureau chief for The Times. More about Christina Goldbaum

       A version of this article appears in print on March 27, 2024, Section A, Page 10 of the New York edition with the headline: Latest in String of Terrorist Attacks in Pakistan Kills Five Chinese Workers. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

       Share full article

       Read in app

       Advertisement

       SKIP ADVERTISEMENT