Five Chinese nationals and one Pakistani were killed in an attack on their convoy in Bisham tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Shangla, according to the regional police chief and a station house officer (SHO).
Reuters quoted Mohammad Ali Gandapur, the regional police chief, as saying that a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a convoy of Chinese engineers which was on its way from Islamabad to their camp in Dasu.
“Five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver were killed in the attack,” Gandapur said.
The provincial police had reached the spot and started relief operations. The rest of the people in the convoy have been protected, Gandapur said.
Bisham SHO Bakht Zahir, while talking to Dawn.com, also confirmed that the incident claimed six lives, of which five were Chinese engineers and one was a Pakistani.
He said it was a “suicide blast” and the authorities concerned were collecting evidence. Security arrangements were tightened at the spot and the bodies were being shifted to a hospital, he further said.
“We will investigate from where and how the vehicle of a suicide bomber came and how it happened,” the SHO said.
Rescue 1122 station head Sheraz Khan said that the bodies and the injured driver were being shifted to the Bisham Tehsil Headquarters Hospital.
The rescue official said that after the blast, the vehicle with the Chinese passengers fell into a gorge and caught fire. A rescue team then reached the spot and put out the fire, he added.
Condemnations
President Asif Ali Zardari strongly condemned the attack and expressed “deep grief” over the deaths of the Chinese nationals.
In a statement issued by the Presidency, he conveyed his condolences to the families of the Chinese nationals and the neighbouring government.
“Anti-Pakistan elements will never succeed in damaging Pak-China friendship,” President Zardari asserted.
Privatisation Minister Abdul Aleem Khan said the attack was “incredibly upsetting and condemnable”.
In a post on X, he said, “The enemy is targeting Pak-China friendship and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) under a well-thought conspiracy but the nation, along with the Pakistan Army, will thwart all evil plots.”
Former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari condemned the attack and expressed his grief on the deaths of Chinese nationals.
In a statement posted on X, he said that the planners and the facilitators of the terror incident should be punished severely.
Extending his condolences to the Chinese government and praying for the speedy recovery of the injured, he said, “The miscreants of the Bisham incident cannot escape punishment.”
In July 2021, thirteen people, including nine Chinese nationals, were killed when a coach carrying them to an under-construction tunnel site of the 4,300-megawatt Dasu hydropower project fell into a ravine in the Upper Kohistan area after an explosion.
Although the Foreign Office had initially termed the incident an accident, the government later said traces of explosives had been found, with the information minister at the time saying “terrorism could not be ruled out”.
In November 2022, an anti-terrorism court in Hazara awarded the death sentence to two men after convicting them for planning the attack.
Additional input from Tahir Khan
This is a developing story that is being updated as the situation evolves. Initial reports in the media can sometimes be inaccurate. We will strive to ensure timeliness and accuracy by relying on credible sources, such as concerned, qualified authorities and our staff reporters.
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