Japanese Nationals Escape Suicide Attack In Pakistan

A video grab shows the scene where five Japanese nationals escaped mostly unharmed from an attempted suicide attack in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, on April 19.

Pakistan is battling a surge in militant violence, including frequent attacks on Chinese migrant workers.

"It was a targeted attack, five Japanese officials were on their way to the export processing zone as per their routine," Abrar Hussain, a Karachi police spokesperson, told the AFP news agency

Bystanders look at the covered body of an accomplice who was killed in the attack.

One of the two motorcycle-borne attackers set off explosives tied to his body as soon as the vehicle slowed, but failed to strike his target, Pakistani counterterrorism official Raja Umar Khatab told reporters. That prompted his accomplice to start shooting at the vehicle before private security guards and nearby police opened fire.
 

Bullet holes from the exchange of gunfire are visible in the van's exterior.




 

Japan's top government spokesman, Yoshimasa Hayashi, said "one Japanese national was confirmed injured." and that the country has "issued an alert to Japanese nationals living in Pakistan in response to the incident."

 

The partially covered body of one of the perpetrators of the attack.

Islamabad ramped up security for Chinese engineers working on Beijing-linked projects in March after five workers were killed in a suicide attack. That attack came days after security forces killed at least seven militants as they attempted to storm the offices of Gwadar Port in southwest Pakistan, considered a cornerstone of Chinese investment.