[Pakistani officials had previously suggested that an accident sent a company bus into a ravine. Investigators now believe a vehicle packed with explosives rammed the workers’ convoy.]
By Salman Masood and Steven Lee Myers
A vehicle driven by a suicide
attacker and laden with explosives rammed a convoy of Chinese workers headed to
the project site in Dasu, a remote town north of the capital, Islamabad, the
official said, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a security
matter.
The explosion badly damaged two
buses carrying workers from the China Gezhouba Group Co., a construction
company based in Wuhan. One of the buses veered off the unpaved road and down a
steep slope where it came to rest on the bank of the churning Indus River.
Chinese workers and diplomats have
been targeted in previous attacks in the country, though Wednesday’s was the
deadliest so far.
China’s prime minister, Li Keqiang,
called Pakistan’s leader, Prime Minister Imran Khan, on Friday and demanded a
thorough investigation in remarks that called the bombing an act of terror,
according to the state news agency Xinhua. He urged Pakistan,
a close ally of China’s, to “use all necessary means” to “bring the terrorist
attack perpetrators to justice.”
Mr. Khan, who was attending a regional conference in Uzbekistan, said in a
statement that the two countries’ relationship “had withstood the vicissitudes
of time.” “No hostile forces would be allowed to damage brotherly relations
between Pakistan and China,” the statement added.
In addition to the 13 who died, at
least 41 people were also injured in the attack, which China’s state television
network, CCTV, said occurred on Wednesday morning shortly after a convoy of
vehicles departed the compound where the company’s workers live. The bombing
also killed two security guards accompanying the convoy.
No group has claimed
responsibility, and officials are continuing to piece together exactly what
happened. A Chinese team that will assist Pakistani investigators in the
bombing probe arrived in Islamabad Friday, officials said.
The attack has highlighted Chinese
security fears in Pakistan, where China’s government and companies have invested
heavily in infrastructure projects as part of the country’s sweeping “belt
and road” initiative. The Dasu dam is one of several major Chinese
projects, including hydroelectric projects and coal-fired power plants, that
have helped ease Pakistan’s
chronic electrical shortages.
China has expressed growing
concern about regional stability after the end of the American
military mission in neighboring Afghanistan.
China’s leader, Xi Jinping, also
spoke on Friday with Afghanistan’s president, Ashraf Ghani, and urged his
government to reach a political solution to the country’s longstanding conflict
and to “strengthen the security protection of Chinese citizens and institutions
in Afghanistan.” Mr. Xi did not mention the Taliban, which has steadily
expanded the areas it controls, according to a statement describing the call.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry on
Wednesday suggested that the explosion that struck the convoy was an accident
caused by the ignition of gas canisters aboard one of the vehicles. Other
officials soon suggested there was evidence of a deliberate attack. The initial
reticence appeared to reflect Pakistan’s sensitivities about terrorist attacks
on its soil, especially those targeting a powerful ally.
China’s ambassador to Pakistan,
Nong Rong, who in April narrowly missed a terrorist attack at a hotel in Quetta
where his delegation was staying, visited the scene of the convoy attack on
Thursday.
State media in China showed video
of the wreckage of the bus in the river ravine and debris scattered across a
narrow unpaved road, including a discarded hard hat of the contractor, China
Gezhouba Group. The force of the blast burned trees on the steep slope above
the road, a reporter with CCTV on the scene said.
The attack on the hotel in April
was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, which said
its intended targets were “locals and foreigners” staying at the hotel. Another
group called the Baluchistan Liberation Army, after the country’s southern
province, has also claimed attacks targeting the Chinese.
Cui Jian, a deputy manager of the
project with China Gezhouba Group, praised Pakistani workers and security
personnel for their emergency response after the bombing. “Pakistani personnel
are still very united and have given us a lot of help,” he said in remarks shown on CCTV.
Salman Masood reported from
Islamabad; Steven Lee Myers from Seoul. Claire Fu contributed research.
