China condemns suicide attack on its nationals in Gwadar, asks Pak to take effective measures

Islamabad: China on Saturday asked Pakistan to take effective measures and overhaul the security mechanism to forestall attacks on its nationals working on various projects after a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of Chinese nationals in the restive Balochistan province in the second such attack in over a month.

The Chinese embassy here in a statement strongly condemned Friday's suicide attack on the convoy of Chinese nationals comprising four vehicles in Gwadar, the port city of strategic importance due to the presence of Chinese workers and investment.

In the attack, two children who were playing nearby were killed while one Chinese national was among several others who sustained injuries.

The embassy said that it launched the emergency plan immediately, demanding Pakistan to properly treat the wounded, conduct a thorough investigation on the attack, and severely punish the perpetrators.

At the same time, relevant departments at all levels in Pakistan must take practical and effective measures to accelerate to implement strengthened whole-process security measures and upgraded security cooperation mechanism to ensure that similar incidents will not happen again, it said.

The embassy further said that recently, the security situation in Pakistan has been severe and there have been several terrorist attacks in succession, resulting in the casualties of several Chinese citizens.

The Chinese embassy in Pakistan asked its citizens in Pakistan to be vigilant, strengthen safety precautions, reduce unnecessary outings, and take effective security protections.

Pakistan in a statement said that the bomber targeted the convoy of Chinese nationals comprising four Chinese vehicles with integral security details of Pakistan Army and police contingent on East Bay Expressway near Fishermen Colony in Gwadar.

A young boy ran out of the colony once the convoy reached there to target Chinese vehicles. Fortunately, soldiers of the Pakistan Army in plain clothes employed as hang around security rushed to intercept the boy; who immediately, exploded himself about 15-20 metres away from the convoy, according to the statement.

Pakistan said cognizant of hostile designs, it already undertook a comprehensive review of security of the Chinese and was committed to ensuring their safe stay in Pakistan in this journey of progress.

We reaffirm our Chinese brothers our wholehearted endeavours to deal with these threats comprehensively, it said.