By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: An explosion killed at least two people and wounded 17 others, including police officers, near Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport on Sunday in an attack claimed by a separatist militant group targeting Chinese engineers.
The overall death toll remains unclear.
The blast, suspected to be an improvised explosive device (IED), targeted a convoy of Chinese engineers working on a power project in Sindh province, according to the Chinese embassy and Provincial Home Minister Zia Ul Hassan Lanjar.
“We suspect it was an IED explosion,” Lanjar told a local TV station, adding that an investigation has been launched and CCTV footage is being acquired.
All the injured have been transferred to Jinnah Hospital for emergency treatment; police officers were among those injured.
The blast was reportedly heard in various areas around the city, with videos showing flames engulfing cars and a thick column of smoke rising from the scene. The site was cordoned off with a heavy military deployment.
Initially, Lanjar suspected an oil tanker blast but later confirmed it was an attack targeting foreigners, specifically Chinese nationals.
The Chinese embassy in Pakistan stated that “many Pakistani personnel were killed and injured” in the blast, which occurred around 23:00 local time (17:00 GMT).
The explosion targeted a convoy of Chinese engineers from the Port Qasim Power Generation Co Ltd, which is building two coal power plants near Karachi.
The Chinese embassy reminded its citizens and Chinese enterprises in Pakistan to be vigilant and to “take necessary safety precautions.”
Thousands of Chinese workers are in Pakistan, primarily involved in Beijing’s multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects, which include several infrastructure and energy projects in Balochistan.
In a statement emailed to journalists, the separatist militant group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the explosion, stating it used a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device to target “a high-level convoy of Chinese engineers and investors” coming from Karachi’s airport.
The BLA is a banned secessionist armed group part of a broader rebellion in Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and least populated and developed province, bordering Iran and Afghanistan.
The BLA specifically targets Chinese interests, particularly the strategic port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea, accusing Beijing of helping Islamabad exploit the province. It has killed Chinese citizens working in the region and attacked Beijing’s consulate in Karachi.
In August, the BLA launched coordinated attacks in the province, killing over 70 people.
Pakistan has heightened security as it prepares to host the leaders’ summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
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