A Baloch rebel outfit attacked a seven-vehicle convoy of Chinese engineers in Pakistan’s Balochistan province on Sunday, August 13. The baloch outfit has claimed that 13 people died in the attack including 4 Chinese nationals and 9 Pakistan security personnel. Two rebels were also reportedly killed in a gunfight with the Pakistani security forces.
The cavalcade of employees of a Chinese construction company came under attack on Faqeer Bridge in Gwadar. According to sources, other Baloch fighters escaped the location in injured condition and an operation is being carried out to clear the area as the altercation proceeded.
Explosions and gunfire could be heard across the port city of Gwadar where all roads remain closed for traffic. An intense shootout went on for over two hours after the operation began around 9:30 AM.
The government authorities have also confirmed the news of the assault. The suicide squad of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), the Majeed Brigade, has taken responsibility for the same. The organisation released a statement which read, “BLA Majeed Brigade today targeted a convoy of Chinese engineers in Gwadar. The attack is still ongoing.”
The Chinese consulate in Pakistan has instructed its people in Balochistan and Sindh to stay inside their homes until further orders. A large number of Chinese are currently working in the area. The port in the critical Balochistan region is being linked to China’s Xinjiang province as part of the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor or CPEC.
India has protested the CPEC project as it runs through Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK), which is part of Jammu and Kashmir and therefore Indian territory. China has alleged the plan had nothing to do with territorial disputes.
The increase in baloch attacks in Pakistan
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant activities, particularly in the province of Balochistan in recent times.
A burqa-clad Baloch suicide bomber, named Shari Baloch, killed four people, including three tutors from China in an attack on a minibus carrying staff from China-built Confucius Institute at Karachi University in April last year. The attack, which was the first significant one against Chinese nationals working in the country, was owned by the Balochistan Liberation Army.
Earlier, a bus transporting engineers was bombed in northwest Pakistan in July 2021. There were nine Chinese among the thirteen fatalities. Pakistan paid the families of the Chinese victims millions of dollars in compensation as a result of external pressure. China even dispatched a team to investigate the attack.
Four people were murdered and multiple others suffered wounds in a suicide bombing in April of the same year at a posh hotel in Quetta that was housing the Chinese ambassador who remained uninjured. Baloch insurgents stormed Pakistan’s Stock Exchange earlier in 2020, where the Chinese have significant assets. The occurrence followed a 2018 attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi.
Projects connected to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor have been targeted by various factions supporting Baloch secession. These repeated incidents have triggered the deployment of an extensive number of security forces in order to reduce potential threats to Beijing’s interests.