Woman engineer was among Chinese nationals killed in suicide attack in northwest Pakistan: Report

PTI

Peshawar, April 7

A woman was among the five Chinese engineers who were killed last month in northwest Pakistan when a suicide bomber targeted their vehicle that was neither bullet nor bomb-proof, according to a police report.

A vehicle-borne suicide bomber targeted the convoy of Chinese engineers in the remote Besham area of the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when they were being driven to a construction site of the Dasu Hydroelectric power station in Kohistan district of the same province on March 26.

Five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver were killed in the attack.

A female engineer was among the five Chinese nationals killed in the attack, the Express Tribune newspaper reported on Sunday, citing the police report.

The police report, which has been sent to the federal government, said that the bus targeted in the attack was travelling at a distance of 15 feet from the other bus and fell into a 300-feet-deep ditch after the suicide bomber crashed his explosives-laden vehicle into the vehicle carrying the victims on the Karakoram Highway, Geo News reported on Sunday.

The report said that the vehicle carrying Chinese nationals was neither bullet nor bomb-proof.

It said that CCTV cameras were installed inside all vehicles in the Chinese convoy and the moment of the attack was captured through one such CCTV camera. The K-P police have recovered pieces of the vehicle utilized by the suicide bomber.

The development comes a day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered disciplinary action against senior police officers for “negligence” in light of an inquiry report over the incident.

“The prime minister has directed to take action against the regional police officer (RPO) Hazara Division; district police officer of Upper Kohistan and Lower Kohistan; director security, Dasu Hydropower Project and commandant special security unit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within 15 days,” Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said.

On Friday, Sharif directed all Pakistani security agencies to ensure foolproof security arrangements for the Chinese nationals working on various projects in the country.

Meanwhile, China has also expressed concern about last Tuesday's attack and demanded the safety of their nationals working on various projects in Pakistan.

Thousands of Chinese personnel are working in Pakistan on several projects under the aegis of the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Last week, Geo News reported the “arrest” of more than 10 terrorists and facilitators involved in the deadly attack.

Citing sources, it said that the terrorist commander responsible for bringing the suicide bomber to Pakistan from Afghanistan has also been arrested as well as four other facilitators.

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