4 Pak cops face action for negligence in suicide attack on Chinese nationals

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered disciplinary action against four senior police officials for their "negligence" after an inquiry committee probing the suicide attack which killed five Chinese engineers and their Pakistani driver submitted its report, the information minister said on Saturday.

IMAGE: Vehicles pass through Abbottabad Tunnel No 1, which is part of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) along Hazara Motorway in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan on October 15, 2023. Photograph: Akhtar Soomro/Reuters

Last Tuesday, a vehicle-borne suicide bomber targeted the convoy of Chinese engineers in the remote Besham area of the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when they were being driven to a construction site of the Dasu Hydroelectric power station in Kohistan district of the same province.

Five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver were killed in the attack.

Information minister Attaullah Tarar said that Prime Minister Sharif directed action against senior Khyber Pakhtunkhwa officials after the inquiry committee formed to probe the March 26 attack and identify the lapses in security protocol submitted its report, Geo News reported.

"The prime minister has directed to take action against the regional police officer (RPO) Hazara Division; district police officer of Upper Kohistan and Lower Kohistan; director security, Dasu Hydropower Project and commandant special security unit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within 15 days," the report quoted Tarar as saying.

“We want peace in the region, but our desire should not be misconstrued as a weakness. We are taking the matter of the security of the Chinese very seriously," he said.

"Prime Minister Shehbaz is himself overseeing the security of the Chinese projects and engineers,” he added.

On Friday, Sharif directed all Pakistani security agencies to ensure foolproof security arrangements for the Chinese nationals working on various projects in the country.

According to an official statement, the prime minister said he had decided to “personally review the meetings with respect to the overall security of the country, especially the security of the Chinese citizens”.

Meanwhile, China has also expressed concern about last Tuesday's attack and demanded the safety of their nationals working on various projects in Pakistan.

Thousands of Chinese personnel are working in Pakistan on several projects under the aegis of the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.