In a tragic incident in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Besham city, six people, including five Chinese nationals, were killed in a suicide attack targeting the vehicle they were travelling in. The attackers crashed their vehicle full of explosives into the car carrying Chinese engineers on their way to Dasu camp in Kohistan from Islamabad.
The car’s driver, a Pakistani national, also lost his life due to injuries sustained during the attack. Security personnel have launched a search operation in the area for the suspects, with heavy contingents arriving at the site and cordoning off the area.
The China Gezhouba Group Company involved in the construction of a hydroelectric dam in Dasu area has been targeted before, with a bus explosion in 2021 claiming the lives of 13 people, including nine Chinese nationals. The incident has drawn condemnation from Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who expressed solidarity with the families of the deceased and called for severe punishment for the attackers.
The safety of Chinese workers in Pakistan has been a longstanding concern, with previous attacks on Chinese engineers in Balochistan province by armed rebels. Dasu, the site of the recent attack, has been a target in the past due to ongoing construction activities by the China Gezhouba Group Company.
