Unidentified militants on August 13 attacked a convoy of Chinese engineers in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan Province.
Officials told RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal that three security officers were injured in an exchange of fire, while two militants were killed and three injured.
Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti, a senator and former Balochistan interior minister, wrote on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that no Chinese nationals were killed in the attack.
The Pakistani military issued a statement confirming the attack, saying “terrorists used small arms and hand grenades during the activity.”
Chinese officials condemned the attack and also said no Chinese nationals were hurt in the attack.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack.
“Today, the BLA Majeed Brigade targeted a convoy of Chinese engineers in the Gwadar District,” the statement said.
In a second statement, the BLA claimed the two suicide bombers had killed four Chinese engineers and nine Pakistani security troops. That information could not be verified.
The BLA has targeted Chinese nationals several times in the past and has warned Beijing not to conclude development deals in Balochistan with the Pakistan government.
In April 2022, a female suicide bomber killed three Chinese teachers in Karachi. In 2021, an explosion struck a bus carrying Chinese workers, killing nine of them, plus four other passengers. In 2020, the BLA claimed responsibility for an attack on the Pakistan Stock Exchange that it said was aimed at “Chinese exploitative plans” in Balochistan.
China is carrying out numerous projects in Pakistan under the umbrella of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The CPEC is a cornerstone of China’s wide-reaching Belt and Road Initiative and focuses on linking China’s Xinjiang Province with the Gwadar Port.
The $60 billion initiative encompasses a wide range of development and infrastructure projects.
Thousands of Pakistani security forces have been deployed to counter threats to the projects.
Chinese Deputy Premier He Lifeng visited Islamabad in July to mark the 10th anniversary of the CPEC project.
Separately on August 13, Pakistani authorities said security forces had killed four suspected gunmen belonging to the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan group (TTP) in the Bajaur tribal district near the Afghan border. One member of the security forces was killed in the raid, authorities said.
The Bajur District was a stronghold of the TTP -- also known as the Pakistani Taliban and a close ally of Afghanistan’s Taliban government -- before the Pakistani Army drove many of the militants out of the area.