Shangla attack: Report reveals vehicle carrying Chinese nationals wasn’t bulletproof, bombproof

ISLAMABAD: A police report on the deadly suicide attack in Shangla’s Bisham city has revealed that the vehicle carrying Chinese nationals was neither bullet-proof nor bomb-proof.

The report, which has been sent to the federal government, reveals that the bus targeted in the attack was travelling at a distance of 15 feet from the other bus and fell into a 300-feet-deep ditch after a suicide bomber crashed his explosive-laden vehicle into the vehicle carrying the victims on the Karakoram Highway.

The report, the second of its nature, further mentions that the buses, which were part of the convoy carrying Chinese nationals, were equipped with close circuit television cameras (CCTV).

The development comes a day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, as per Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, ordered disciplinary action against senior police officers for “negligence” in the light of an inquiry report over the March 26 incident which killed five Chinese citizens, including a woman and a Pakistani driver.

“The PM 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 minister said while speaking to the media in Lahore.

Also, the report says that the authorities have gathered the parts of vehicle used by the attacker to target the Chinese convoy at the incident site, which is located at a distance of around six and 77 kilometres from Bisham police station, and Dassu Dam, respectively.

Earlier this week, Geo News, citing sources, reported the “arrest” of more than 10 terrorists, facilitators involved in the deadly attack by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD).

The CTD sources added that the terrorist commander, responsible for bringing the suicide bomber to Pakistan from Afghanistan, has also been arrested as well as four other facilitators. The arrests came as the country’s civil and military leadership reacted strongly to the attack vowing that the perpetrators responsible for the heinous attack would be brought to justice. PM Shehbaz has directed authorities concerned to provide Chinese nationals with foolproof security in Pakistan through a comprehensive action plan for regular audit of security standard operating procedures.