Attack on Chinese nationals averted at Pakistan's Karachi shipyard; suspect killed: Police

A suspected suicide bomber was killed and a deadly attack on the Chinese nationals working in a shipyard in the port city of Pakistan's Karachi was foiled by the security forces, police said on Thursday.

The incident happened on Wednesday when security officials discovered that a suspect was planning to carry out a suicide attack on the Chinese nationals at the shipyard in Karachi's Port Qasim.

Senior Superintendent Police Hasan Sardar said they killed a suspected terrorist who was planning to carry out a suicide attack against Chinese nationals working at the shipyard in Port Qasim.

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"The terrorist was shot dead after the police increased the security for the foreign workers after an intelligence tipoff that a banned outfit had planned a terror attack on Tuesday," he said.

He said that the suspected terrorist was shot dead after he had retaliated with fire following a confrontation with security forces when he was seen approaching the foreign nationals at the shipyard.

The police found a suicide vest jacket, explosives, a detonator and a Kalashnikov rifle with ammunition from the body of the suspected terrorist.

"The terrorist also fired and one policeman was injured," Sardar said.

After the incident, Sardar said both governments had agreed to step up security and intelligence-based round-the-clock surveillance cover for foreign nationals.

This is not the first time that terrorists and separatists have targeted Chinese nationals working in Pakistan.

In April 2022, a female suicide bomber belonging to a banned Balochistan separatist outfit carried out a suicide attack on a van carrying three Chinese teachers at Karachi University.

Hundreds of Chinese workers, which include engineers, work in Pakistan as part of the ambitious China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The CPEC, which connects Gwadar Port in Pakistan's Balochistan with China's Xinjiang province, is the flagship project of China's ambitious multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).