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ISLAMABAD: Unknown assailants riding a motorcycle fired into a car carrying two Chinese factory workers in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi on Wednesday, injuring one of them before fleeing the scene, rescue and police officials said.
Police said the gunmen were wearing face masks, while the Chinese nationals were travelling without escort.
Javed Akbar Riaz, a senior Karachi-based police officer, said the motive behind the attack was not immediately clear. He, however, claimed that police were investigating. “The victim and another Chinese national were being driven to Karachi’s industrial area when they came under attack,” Riaz said.
The latest assault on Chinese nationals is particularly significant since it took place in Karachi, the commercial capital of Pakistan, rather than in the remote parts of the country where militants are based. Karachi is also home to several Chinese-funded construction projects.
Speaking in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian described the incident as an “isolated” case. “We have full confidence in the Pakistan side’s protection of Chinese citizens and property in Pakistan,” he told a regular news briefing.
The attack took place weeks after a terrorist attack on a bus carrying Pakistani and Chinese workers in Kohistan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan’s northwest, killing nine Chinese and four Pakistanis. Pakistan initially said it was only a road accident, but later investigators concluded that the bus driver had lost control after a suicide car bomber set off his explosives prematurely nearby.
China has poured billions of dollars into Pakistan, and thousands of Chinese nationals visit the country to work on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects or other business ventures.
The attacks on Chinese in Pakistan has been a matter of serious concern for authorities in Islamabad who have described Beijing’s funding as a “game-changer”.
Police said the gunmen were wearing face masks, while the Chinese nationals were travelling without escort.
Javed Akbar Riaz, a senior Karachi-based police officer, said the motive behind the attack was not immediately clear. He, however, claimed that police were investigating. “The victim and another Chinese national were being driven to Karachi’s industrial area when they came under attack,” Riaz said.
The latest assault on Chinese nationals is particularly significant since it took place in Karachi, the commercial capital of Pakistan, rather than in the remote parts of the country where militants are based. Karachi is also home to several Chinese-funded construction projects.
Speaking in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian described the incident as an “isolated” case. “We have full confidence in the Pakistan side’s protection of Chinese citizens and property in Pakistan,” he told a regular news briefing.
The attack took place weeks after a terrorist attack on a bus carrying Pakistani and Chinese workers in Kohistan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan’s northwest, killing nine Chinese and four Pakistanis. Pakistan initially said it was only a road accident, but later investigators concluded that the bus driver had lost control after a suicide car bomber set off his explosives prematurely nearby.
China has poured billions of dollars into Pakistan, and thousands of Chinese nationals visit the country to work on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects or other business ventures.
The attacks on Chinese in Pakistan has been a matter of serious concern for authorities in Islamabad who have described Beijing’s funding as a “game-changer”.
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