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Opinion | China-Pakistan projects won’t be safe if local feelings are ignored
- The latest deadly attack on Chinese nationals in Pakistan is likely to shift the focus of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Beijing
- Pakistan must address socioeconomic grievances on the ground to save lives and keep future projects with China on the table
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On March 26, a suicide bomber rammed a car filled with explosives into a convoy of Chinese engineers who worked on the Dasu hydropower project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, northwest Pakistan. The attack killed five Chinese engineers and their driver. Chinese diplomats asked Islamabad to launch a thorough investigation, punish the perpetrators and take steps to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens.
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The attack comes on the heels of the Balochistan Liberation Army’s (BLA) failed attempt to enter the Gwadar Port Authority complex on March 20. The complex houses Chinese workers and engineers, as well as Pakistani intelligence offices.
Gwadar, in Balochistan province, is the culmination point of the 3,000-kilometre China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a centrepiece of the Belt and Road Initiative which starts in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. CPEC comprises rail, road, energy and other infrastructure projects.
In the first two years after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, attacks rose by 73 per cent in Pakistan, leaving the country in a tailspin. The Taliban’s takeover had a revitalising impact on jihadist groups like Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as well as Baloch separatist groups.
Tuesday’s bombing was one of the most devastating attacks targeting Chinese nationals since April 2022, when suicide bomber Shari Baloch attacked the University of Karachi’s Confucius Institute. Last August, militants in Gwadar targeted a bus of Chinese engineers who all survived.
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The Majeed Brigade, the BLA’s suicide squad, has carried out terrorist attacks against Chinese economic interests, workers and engineers in Pakistan since 2018.
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