Outlawed militant group attacks convoy of Chinese nationals in Pakistan

Two militants have been killed when they attacked a convoy carrying Chinese workers to a Beijing-financed port project in Pakistan's Balochistan province, officials said.

A spokesman for China's consulate in Karachi said on Sunday none of its nationals were killed or wounded in the attack, and urged Chinese citizens to heighten their vigilance.

Various Baloch militant groups have claimed attacks on projects linked to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project in the past, with thousands of security personnel deployed to counter threats against Beijing's interests.

The banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) said on Sunday that two of its "fighters died in a self-sacrificing" attack on a convoy going to Gwadar port in Pakistan's southwest.

"The operation has concluded with the elimination of two assailants," a senior police official told AFP, adding that three Pakistani soldiers were wounded.

China's consulate in Karachi said it had asked Pakistan to "severely punish the perpetrators and take concrete and effective measures to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens, institutions and projects".

"A Chinese convoy from the Gwadar port project was hit by roadside bombs and gunfire on its way back to the port area from the Gwadar Airport," it said in a statement.

"No Chinese citizens were killed or injured."

The outlawed BLA, which frequently exaggerates its successes, claimed in a statement that four Chinese workers and nine Pakistani soldiers had died in the attack.

The militant group is listed as a terrorist organisation by Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Rich resources and longstanding grievances

The CPEC project is the cornerstone of Beijing's massive Belt and Road Initiative and seeks to link China's western Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region to Gwadar port in Balochistan -- Pakistan's least populous province but rich in mineral resources.

Three Chinese academics and their Pakistani driver were killed when a woman suicide bomber detonated her device as they were driving into the University of Karachi's Confucius Institute in April 2022. The BLA claimed responsibility for that attack.

A year earlier, five people were killed in an attack claimed by Pakistani Taliban at a luxury hotel hosting the Chinese ambassador in Quetta.

Also in 2021, 12 people -- including nine Chinese workers -- were killed by a blast aboard a bus carrying staff to the Dasu dam site.

Islamabad blamed that explosion on a gas leak but Beijing insisted it was a bomb attack.

Since its initiation, CPEC has seen tens of billions of dollars funnelled into massive transport, energy and infrastructure projects.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng was in the Pakistani capital last month to mark the 10th anniversary of the project's start.