Two Children Killed In Suicide Bombing Targeting Chinese Nationals In Pakistan

A subway project planned under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) (file photo)

A suicide bombing targeting a vehicle carrying Chinese nationals in southwest Pakistan killed two children and wounded three on August 20, the provincial government's spokesperson and police officials said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

The attack occurred in Balochistan's Gwadar district.

The banned separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement, the BLA said that it was a suicide attack that killed “nine Chinese engineers.”

Three people, including the car's driver, were also injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up near the vehicle, authorities said.

Chinese nationals sustained minor injuries, a police statement said.

"Strongly condemn suicide attack on Chinese nationals' vehicle in Gwadar," Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani tweeted.

Gwadar is in the southwestern province of Balochistan, where separatist militants have waged a long-running insurgency.

The attack came after the bus attack in the northwestern Pakistani province of Khyber-Paktunkhwa in which 13 people, including nine Chinese workers and two Pakistani soldiers were killed earlier this month.

Beijing has heavily invested in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $65 billion economic development plan under the communist country's Belt and Road Initiative that is aimed at connecting western China to the Gwadar deep-water sea port in southern Pakistan.

Access to Gwadar will give China strategic access to the Arabian Sea.

Based on reporting by Reuters and dawn.com