6 Chinese killed in suicide attack in northwest Pakistan

Islamabad, Mar 26 (PTI) At least six Chinese nationals were killed on Tuesday when an explosive-packed vehicle rammed into their bus in Pakistan’s troubled northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, officials said.

The Chinese were working on the Dasu hydropower project.

Several others were injured in the incident that occurred in the Bisham area of Shangla district of the province when a bus en route from Islamabad to Kohistan was hit by a vehicle coming from the opposite direction, police said.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

Bisham Station House Officer (SHO) Bakht Zahir said that the incident was a “suicide blast” and the authorities concerned were collecting the evidence, Dawn.com reported.

Security arrangements were tightened at the spot and the bodies were being shifted to a hospital, he further said.

“We will investigate from where and how the vehicle of a suicide bomber came and how it happened,” the SHO said.

Geo News quoted a senior police officer as saying that at least six Chinese, who were on the bus, were killed and added that several other passengers were injured in the suicide attack.

Shangla is close to Kohistan, where 13 people including nine Chinese were killed in a terrorist attack in 2021.

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