Suicide bomb attack in Pakistan kills two children, injures Chinese national

SHANGHAI, Aug 21 (Reuters) – A suicide bomb attack in Pakistan on a motorcade carrying Chinese personnel injured one Chinese national and killed two local children, the Chinese embassy in Islamabad said on Saturday.

“The Chinese embassy in Pakistan strongly condemns this act of terrorism, extends its sincere sympathies to the injured of both countries, and expresses its deep condolences to the innocent victims in Pakistan,” it said in a statement.

The attack took place on Friday at the Gwadar East Bay Expressway project in Balochistan, the embassy said. Several wounded people were treated at a local hospital, it said.

The embassy called on the Pakistan authorities to conduct a thorough investigation of the attack. No group has claimed responsibility for the incident.

In July, a suicide bomber attacked a bus carrying workers to a dam construction site in northern Pakistan, killing 13 people, including nine Chinese nationals.

Pakistan’s foreign minister said Pakistani Taliban militants known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan were behind that attack. The TTP told Reuters it was not involved. read more .

Beijing is investing over $65 billion in infrastructure projects in Pakistan as part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, under its wider Belt and Road initiative.

“China is firmly opposed to all forces that use terrorism as a means to get geopolitical benefit,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement in response to last month’s attack.

A Chinese tabloid run by the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily described the bus blast as the most serious attack on Chinese nationals in recent years.

Reporting by Josh Horwitz; Editing by William Mallard and Mike Harrison

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