Brief history of attacks on Chinese Consulate, people

KARACHI: Friday’s botched attack on the Chinese Consulate in Clifton is not the first of its kind, as the consulate and Chinese nationals have also been attacked in the past.

On May 30, 2016 one person sustained minor injuries when a remote-controlled bomb targeted a Chinese engineer’s vehicle near Quaid-e-Azam Park on the National Highway in Gulshan-i-Hadeed suburb of Karachi. Police and other law-enforcement agencies believe the banned Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM) was behind the attack.

Earlier in March 2016, the same JSMM having reservations about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) had warned of attacks on the Chinese citizens throughout the province.

Besides the CPEC, the nationalist organisation has also expressed its concern over Zulfiqarabad — a joint venture of Pakistan and China.

The JSMM was banned by the Interior Ministry in 2013 for its involvement in various bomb blasts and other terrorist activities and its head Shafi Burfat wanted in a number of cases of terrorism is on self-exile in Germany.

Earlier on February 29, the JSMM had taken out a procession against the CPEC in Badin district, where its leaders criticised the policies of Pakistan and China governments.

Hundreds of Chinese workers are currently working all over Pakistan on various development projects, including the CPEC and Thar Coal Power Project. Majority of them are working and residing in Sindh, especially in its capital Karachi.

In 2015, following a tip-off about possible attacks on Chinese people, the Interior Ministry and National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) decided to form Special Security Cells, in all the four provinces.

On August 11, 2018 a suicide attack in Balochistan targeted a bus carrying Chinese engineers in which five people, including three Chinese nationals, were injured. The attack came in Dalbandin region around 340 kilometers (211 miles) from Quetta when the Chinese engineers working on a mineral project were being transported to the city.

According to the local administration and police officials, two paramilitary soldiers guarding the bus were among the wounded.

On 23 July, 2013 a motorcycle bomb exploded near the Chinese consulate in Clifton leaving one Rangers jawan and two others injured. The JSMM had accepted responsibility for the attack in reaction to Zulfiqarabad.

On August 29, 2008 Zhang Guo and Long Xiao Wei, along with their security guard Imranullah and driver Khalil, were picked up by the Taliban from Upper Dir’s Khall town. The two engineers were then shifted to the troubled Swat Valley.

Fazlullah-led militants had freed the guard and driver unconditionally on September 15 and sought the release of 136 Taliban prisoners for the release of Chinese engineers. Their release was secured after an army operation.

In 1991, three Chinese engineers working on Gomal Zam Dam were kidnapped from Bhan Saeedabad, Sehwan, Dadu district (now Jamshoro district) by a gang of notorious dacoit Laiq Chandio.

All the three were released when the Sindh government paid head money to dacoits through a former MPA.