China asks Pakistan to take effective measures to implement security

ISLAMABAD: The Chinese Embassy in Pakistan on Saturday strongly condemned the suicide attack in Gwadar targeting Chinese nationals working on the Gwadar East Bay Expressway project in Balochistan.

A motorcade carrying Chinese personnel was attacked by a suicide bomber on Friday in which one Chinese was injured, two local children were killed and several others were injured.

After the incident, the Pakistani side sent the wounded to the hospital in Gwadar for treatment.

The Chinese Embassy in Pakistan launched an emergency plan immediately, demanding Pakistan to properly treat the wounded, conduct a thorough investigation on the attack, and severely punish the perpetrators.

“Relevant departments at all levels in Pakistan must take practical and effective measures to accelerate and implement strengthened whole process security measures and upgraded security cooperation mechanism to ensure that similar incidents will not happen again,” the embassy said in a statement.

It also said recently, the security situation in Pakistan has been severe. “There have been several terrorist attacks in succession, resulting in the casualties of several Chinese citizens,” it said, cautioning: “Chinese citizens in Pakistan need to be vigilant, strengthen safety precautions, reduce unnecessary outings, and take effective security protections.”

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain also condemned the Gwadar attack and said the attack was aimed at sabotaging the economic vision of China, Pakistan leaderships.

In a tweet, he said the enemy cannot undermine Pakistan’s resolve and “we will spare no effort to bring the culprits to justice”.

The banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack.

Separately, Pakistan Peoples’ Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari too condemned the terrorist attack on a Chinese cavalcade in Gwadar, resulting in the loss of precious human lives.

The PPP chairman demanded the federal government to provide adequate security to Chinese citizens working on different projects across the country.

“[The] Federal government must remove Chinese concerns about the protection and safety of their citizens in Pakistan,” he said in a statement.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also expressed sympathies with the families of those who lost their lives in the terrorist attack, and demanded best possible medical treatment for those wounded in the attack.