At least four people, including three citizens of China, were killed in the southern Pakistani port of Karachi on Tuesday, in a suicide blast that security forces said had specifically targeted the Chinese.
The explosion ripped through a van carrying the Chinese near a campus of Karachi University at about 2 p.m. local time. Three of the victims were Chinese nationals, according to a university official.
Confucius Institute Director Huang Guiping, Ding Mupeng, Chen Sa, and the Pakistani driver, Khalid, were identified as the victims.
The Balochistan Liberation Army's Majeed Brigade has claimed responsibility for the attack on the instructors, which occurred near the university's China-built Confucius Institute, which teaches the Chinese language to local students. The separatist Baloch Liberation Army claimed that a woman suicide bomber carried out the attack.
The bombing was the first major attack on Chinese nationals in Pakistan since last year when a suicide bomber blew up a passenger bus, killing 13 people, including nine Chinese workers employed at the Dasu Hydropower Project in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Tuesday’s attack is also the first big challenge for newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who expressed sorrow over the loss of citizens from Pakistan’s long-time ally, which has been developing the South Asian nation’s major infrastructure projects.
The explosion ripped through a van carrying the Chinese near a campus of Karachi University at about 2 p.m. local time. Three of the victims were Chinese nationals, according to a university official.
Confucius Institute Director Huang Guiping, Ding Mupeng, Chen Sa, and the Pakistani driver, Khalid, were identified as the victims.
The Balochistan Liberation Army's Majeed Brigade has claimed responsibility for the attack on the instructors, which occurred near the university's China-built Confucius Institute, which teaches the Chinese language to local students. The separatist Baloch Liberation Army claimed that a woman suicide bomber carried out the attack.
The bombing was the first major attack on Chinese nationals in Pakistan since last year when a suicide bomber blew up a passenger bus, killing 13 people, including nine Chinese workers employed at the Dasu Hydropower Project in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Tuesday’s attack is also the first big challenge for newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who expressed sorrow over the loss of citizens from Pakistan’s long-time ally, which has been developing the South Asian nation’s major infrastructure projects.
