Pakistan: The vehicle carrying Chinese citizens in Pakistan was not bullet-bomb proof, police gave report to the government
The vehicle carrying Chinese engineers killed in a suicide attack in Pakistan last month was neither bullet proof nor bomb proof. This information was given in a police report sent to the federal Shehbaz Sharif government.
A vehicle-borne suicide bomber targeted the convoy of Chinese engineers in the remote Besham area of restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province as they were being taken to the construction site of the Dasu hydroelectric power station in the province’s Kohistan district. Five Chinese citizens and their Pakistani driver were killed in this attack.
The report said that the bus targeted in the attack was 15 feet away from another bus. The suicide bomber rammed a vehicle laden with explosives into a vehicle carrying Chinese engineers on the Karakoram Highway, after which it fell into a 300 feet deep gorge. A major media group gave this information in its news. The report said that the vehicle carrying Chinese nationals was neither bullet nor bomb proof.
Another similar report said that the buses of the convoy carrying Chinese nationals were equipped with CCTV. This report has come to light a day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered disciplinary action against the police officers responsible for this negligence.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said, the Prime Minister has directed to take action against the Regional Police Officer of Hazara Division. District police officers of Upper Kohistan and Lower Kohistan, Director (Security) of Dasu Hydroelectric Project and Commandant of Special Security Unit in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been asked to respond within 15 days.
Sharif on Friday directed all security agencies of Pakistan to ensure adequate security arrangements for Chinese nationals working in various projects in the country. Meanwhile, China has also expressed concern over the attack and demanded safety of its citizens working in various projects in Pakistan. Thousands of Chinese workers are working on several projects in Pakistan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
