Investigators have uncovered evidence linking last month’s deadly attack on the Karakoram Highway to the same Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan cell that killed nine Chinese nationals in a 2021 bombing on the same road.
The attack came less than three years after nine Chinese nationals working on the same project were also killed in a vehicular suicide bombing.
Pakistani officials moved a jailed Chinese national charged with blasphemy more than 200km away to a maximum-security prison for fear his presence could trigger a mob.
A source involved in the arrest said scores of infuriated Pakistani labourers descended on a Chinese camp, apparently intent on attacking the man, following a heated dispute about the slow pace of work during Ramadan.
Growing insurgencies in Pakistan, the Taliban’s march on neighbouring Afghanistan, and poor security at their camps are reportedly contributing to the atmosphere of fear.
No militant group has taken responsibility for the bombing, which happened in a region not known to have terrorist activity.