Five Chinese nationals working on dam construction and their Pakistani driver were killed Tuesday in a suicide attack targeting their vehicle in northwest Pakistan, police said.
The safety of Chinese employees working on Pakistan's various infrastructure projects has long been a concern for Beijing, which has invested billions of dollars in recent years in the country.
“Five Chinese and their local driver were killed in the attack
,” which occurred in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Muhammad Ali Gandapur, a senior local police official, told AFP.
The group had left the Dasu hydroelectric dam, whose construction was entrusted to a Chinese company, and were targeted on a mountainous road overlooking a deep ravine near the town of Besham, according to the same source.
“The Chinese embassy and consulates in Pakistan strongly condemn this terrorist action, express deep condolences to the victims in both countries, and express sincere sympathies to the families of the victims
,” the Chinese embassy said in a statement.
In July 2021, nine Chinese were killed in an attack on a bus which was transporting engineers, surveyors and mechanical maintenance personnel working on the construction of the same dam.
The Pakistani government had accused the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Pakistani Taliban, of being behind this attack.
But Islamabad was slow to recognize that it was an attack, which caused tensions with Beijing, even though it is a close ally.
Pakistan has been facing a deterioration in security for several months, particularly since the return to power of the Taliban in Kabul in August 2021, particularly in this region bordering Afghanistan.
Most attacks in this region are attributed to the TTP, or groups affiliated with it.
Strong resentment
In April 2021, the TTP claimed responsibility for a suicide attack against a luxury hotel in Quetta (west), capital of the province of Balochistan, where the Chinese ambassador was staying, who emerged unscathed.
Chinese interests have often been targeted in Baluchistan (southwest).
This province is rich in hydrocarbons and minerals, but its population complains of being marginalized and robbed of its natural resources.
Last week, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a Baloch separatist movement, carried out an attack on premises at the strategic port of Gwadar, the keystone of a vast Chinese project, in the same province.
Two soldiers and eight rebels were killed, according to the Army Communications Service (ISPR).
In Pakistan, separatist groups in particular harbor strong resentment against Chinese-funded projects, seen as bringing no benefit to the local population, with most jobs going to Chinese labor.
The BLA has already claimed responsibility for several attacks against Chinese targets, citing the control of local resources by Islamabad and Beijing.
In April 2022, three Chinese staff members of the Confucius Institute and their Pakistani driver were killed in a suicide attack carried out by a female suicide bomber belonging to the BLA, in Karachi (south).
In May 2019, this movement killed at least eight people by attacking the luxury hotel overlooking the deep water port of Gwadar.
This port is a flagship project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), for which Beijing was to spend more than 50 billion dollars (42 billion euros).
This corridor aimed at connecting western China to the Indian Ocean via Pakistan is itself part of the vast Chinese “Belt and Road” initiative.
Its objective is to improve trade links between Asia, Europe, Africa and even beyond through the construction of ports, railways, airports and industrial parks.
Six months earlier, the BLA had carried out an assault on the Chinese consulate in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city and its economic and financial capital, killing at least four people.
And in June 2020, it attacked the Karachi Stock Exchange, partly owned by Chinese companies (at least four deaths).