Editorial | Deadly terror attack shows Pakistan still has much work to do
- The killing of three Chinese and their driver by a suicide bomber in Karachi should be a wake-up call for Islamabad to crack down on extremists and protect the most vulnerable
Beijing has called for a thorough investigation and harsh punishment for those behind the attack, while asking Islamabad to take measures to prevent similar incidents. But the tragedy is just the latest of a string in recent years and with efforts to protect foreigners not always ironclad, ways have to be found to improve intelligence and security.
Police claim a woman in head-to-toe clothing had approached the van in which the victims were travelling and set off a bomb. Those killed were the director of the institute, a lecturer and a volunteer and the Pakistani driver, while another Chinese teacher standing nearby was injured.
The Pakistani separatist group, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), recognised as a terrorist organisation by a number of countries, claimed responsibility. It began an insurgency in the western province of Balochistan in 2005 and has been among extremists trying to derail relations between China and Pakistan.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who took office two weeks ago, pledged those behind the attack would be brought to justice. He has good reason to make such a promise; Pakistan and China have the closest of relations and the country is an integral part of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, which was launched in 2015 with the US$60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. That closeness has been a lightning rod for extremists, though, Chinese companies and nationals being targets of attacks.
The BLA claimed a strike on the Chinese consulate in Karachi in 2018 and a suicide bombing on a motorcade of workers near the port of Gwadar in August last year that injured a Chinese man and killed three Pakistani children.