Chinese workers targeted in deadly Pakistan airport suicide blast

Karachi, Pakistan (CNN) — Two Chinese nationals were killed and one was injured in a suicide attack near Karachi’s international airport Sunday evening, China’s embassy in Pakistan said Monday, marking the latest in a string of violence against China’s personnel and investments in the country in recent years.

At least seven others were injured, according to rescue workers at the scene, where a massive blast set cars ablaze and was heard throughout the city.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) separatist group claimed responsibility in a statement and said the blast was a suicide attack targeting a convoy of Chinese engineers and investors leaving Jinnah International Airport, Pakistan’s largest and busiest aviation hub. The Chinese embassy said the attack targeted a convoy carrying Chinese staff of an electric power company.

A senior Pakistani security official confirmed to CNN that it was a suicide attack and said authorities were investigating the background of the bomber.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif “strongly condemned” the incident and offered “heartfelt condolences to the Chinese leadership [and] the people of China,” in a statement posted on X.

“Pakistan stands committed to safeguarding our Chinese friends. We will leave no stone unturned to ensure their security [and] well-being,” he wrote.

The incident follows a spate of terror attacks earlier this year that Pakistan’s government said were aimed at disrupting its close ties with Beijing. It also comes days before Islamabad is set to host a meeting of heads of government from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a security grouping spearheaded by China and Russia.

Pakistan is a strategic ally of China and a key link in Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s ambitious Belt and Road infrastructure initiative. Projects under the program’s umbrella have faced mounting security challenges, including as Pakistan grapples with a surge in violence from militant and terrorist groups in recent years.

In its statement Monday, China’s embassy called on Pakistan to “take all necessary measures to protect the safety of Chinese citizens, institutions and projects in Pakistan.”

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has yet to comment. Monday marks the last day of China’s weeklong national day holiday.

Beijing has invested tens of billions of dollars in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship Belt and Road project launched in 2015 that links China’s western Xinjiang region to Pakistan’s Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea with a network of roads, railways, pipelines and power plants.

But Chinese-funded projects have sparked resentment from locals in parts of Pakistan, who say they have benefited little from the developments. The anti-China sentiment is particularly strong among separatist groups in Balochistan.

The BLA, which claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack, is the most prominent of several separatist groups in the restive southwest province.

Earlier this year, the BLA claimed responsibility for assaults on a Pakistani naval air base and a government complex outside the Chinese-funded strategic port of Gwadar.

In a separate incident in March, five Chinese workers and their local driver were killed in a suicide blast in northwest Pakistan, when a bomber rammed a vehicle into the workers’ convoy as it traveled from the capital to the Dasu dam, the country’s largest hydropower project.

Pakistan’s military said those attacks were aimed at destabilizing the country’s internal security and its relationship with China. They followed other violent incidents in recent years targeting Chinese nationals and projects.

In November 2018, the BLA claimed responsibility for an attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi, which killed four people. Six months later, a separatist group attacked a luxury hotel in Gwadar, often used by Chinese nationals working at the port. In June 2020, the BLA said it was responsible for another deadly attack on the Pakistan Stock Exchange, in which a Chinese-led consortium owns a 40% stake.

In August last year, BLA militants opened fire on a Pakistani military convoy in Gwadar as it was escorting a delegation of Chinese nationals to a construction project. Two militants were killed and no harm was caused to any military personnel or civilians, according to the Pakistani military.

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This story has been updated with additional information. CNN’s Azaz Syed and Saleem Mehsud in Islamabad contributed reporting.