Pakistan blames Indian and Afghan spy agencies for bus blast that killed Chinese workers

‘Clear nexus’ seen between Pakistani Taliban and the intelligence services of the two neighbouring nations, Pakistan’s foreign minister says
China denounces use of terrorism for geopolitical gains and calls for a united front to uphold regional security interests

Pakistan

Sarah Zhengin Beijing

Published: 6:00pm, 13 Aug 2021

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Pakistan has blamed India and Afghanistan for a bus blast last month that killed nine Chinese nationals, prompting a call by Beijing that no one should use terrorism for geopolitical gains.

Releasing a report on an investigation into the attack, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Thursday said that an umbrella group of militants under the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was responsible for the deadly violence, and there was a “clear nexus” with Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies.

China’s foreign ministry did not directly name any group in its statement on Pakistan’s investigation, but said that the two countries needed to strengthen their security cooperation to ensure the safety of China’s personnel and institutions for its projects in the country.

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Thirteen people were killed in the July 14 attack on a bus carrying Chinese and Pakistani workers to the Dasu hydropower project, part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor under construction in the northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Dozens of others were wounded, including at least 28 Chinese.

“Terrorism is the common enemy of all mankind. China firmly opposes any force using terrorism to seek geopolitical gains and calls on countries in the region to collaborate on eradicating all terrorist organisations so as to uphold the common security and development interests of all countries,” ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement.

Qureshi said Pakistan had data evidence to back up its findings that the intelligence agencies from the two neighbouring countries were involved.

“As per our investigation, Afghan soil was used for this incident … about its planning and its execution, we’re seeing a clear nexus between [Afghan] NDS and [Indian] RAW,” Qureshi said.

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Javed Iqbal, Pakistan’s deputy inspector general of counterterrorism police, said video footage, mobile phone data analysis, investigation of local handlers and facilitators, and forensic examination of the car used in the bombing all revealed that the TTP in Afghanistan had planned this attack. The TTP is known as the Pakistani Taliban.

“Senior officers of the RAW and NDS were directing them in Afghanistan,” Iqbal added.

The Indian embassy in Beijing declined to comment and the Afghan embassy did not respond.

Analysts have said earlier that the Pakistani Taliban could be behind the Dasu attack, since it took place in an area where the group was active, but the TTP has denied involvement, even thought it had earlier claimed responsibility for targeting security officials in a car bomb suicide attack in April, at a hotel in Quetta hosting the Chinese ambassador.

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Li Wei, a counterterrorism analyst at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations in Beijing, said the possibility of Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies being involved in the Dasu attack could not be ruled out, but solid evidence was needed.

“It’s possible that the two countries took part in the incident. However, we need to see sound proof to determine whether they were involved or not. And I haven’t seen such evidence released so far.”

“Moreover, the investigation is still ongoing and Pakistan’s investigation results regarding some key information about the attack have changed multiple times. Given the complexity of the matter, a more in-depth investigation is needed before coming to any conclusion,” Li added.

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Raffaello Pantucci, senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said the TTP – as a very anti-state group in Pakistan – was “still the most logical actor” to be linked to the Dasu blast. However, it was strange for them not to claim responsibility for a successful attack and this raised questions over whether it was directly responsible or had supported whoever was behind it.

He said Pakistan’s stand that India and Afghanistan were linked to the attack was also not surprising, given Islamabad’s “default accusation” was to blame India.

“Whether they are true or not is very difficult to know, but I’d be immediately suspicious of any Pakistani accusation that links any attack in the country to India and Afghanistan,” he said.

On the Chinese side, Pantucci said that the foreign ministry’s vague reference to “any forces” on the attack was meant to back Pakistan, but also could refer to claims in Chinese media that the East Turkestan Islamic Movement – a group of Uygur militants that Beijing has blamed for violence in Xinjiang – was involved in the attack.

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“When [Beijing] talks about outside forces, they are also referring to the United States, who they see as behind a lot of things as well,” he said.

“While the Pakistanis tend to see the Indians as behind everything, the Chinese increasingly see the Americans behind everything, and they have openly accused the Americans of fostering Uygur militants in Afghanistan against their interests.”

Additional reporting by Rachel Zhang

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Pakistan blames India, Afghanistan for bus blast that killed nine Chinese