Watch: CCTV footages of attack on Chinese consulate in Karachi
Three terrorists attacked Chinese consulate in Karachi on Friday.
KARACHI, Pakistan (Web Desk) – At least three suspects arrived at the consulate in a white coloured vehicle and opened fire on the security guard. The unknown assailants tried to enter the building however; the guard retaliated and foiled their attempt.
Heavy contingent of police, Rangers, Frontier Corps (FC) and army were deployed to the area who managed to control the situation. Security forces cordoned off the area while all the traffic enroute towards the consulate was blocked.
Four people were killed when gunmen armed with hand grenades and a suicide vest stormed the Chinese consulate in the Pakistani city of Karachi, officials said, with the attack claimed by terrorists.
Pakistani authorities said that security forces had secured the area after the attack, the latest assault on Chinese nationals in the country, where Beijing has poured billions of dollars into one of the largest projects in its massive Belt and Road programme.
"They were holding Kalashnikovs. First, they hurled a small (grenade) and then started firing," said Allah Bakhsh, a guard at a nearby house who witnessed the attack.
Police officials said two of their personnel were killed, along with a father and son from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, who were seeking Chinese visas and were caught in the crossfire.
At least one of the attackers was wearing a suicide vest which did not detonate, another senior police official said.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told reporters in Islamabad that "all the terrorists have been eliminated", and that all 21 staff at the consulate during the attack had been taken to a safe location.
"Situation under control," the military’s media wing added in a statement.
Exclusive CCTV footages of attack on Chinese consulate in Karachi
In the first CCTV footage, the terrorists were seen trying to enter in the consulate and opened fire on the security guards however, the guards retaliated and foiled their attempt.
In the other footage, it can be seen that the terrorist opened firing and used hand grenad after which a dense smoke made the scene unclear.
Condemnations
China "strongly condemned" the attack and asked Pakistan to take measures to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens and institutions in the country, as well as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) mega-project.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has also strongly condemned the incident.
The Prime Minister has ordered a complete inquiry into the incident and has desired that elements behind this incident must be unearthed.
He said the incident is part of conspiracy against Pak and China economic and strategic cooperation.
I am absolutely clear both these attacks are part of a planned campaign to create unrest in the country by those who do not want Pakistan to prosper. Let there be no doubt in anyone s mind that we will crush the terrorists, whatever it takes. https://t.co/AhPpjsUGEq
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 23, 2018
Imran Khan said Karachi police and Rangers have shown exceptional courage and Nation salutes the martyrs and their colleagues for acting so vigilantly, their gallantry is something we are proud of.
The failed attack against the Chinese Consulate was clearly a reaction to the unprecedented trade agreements that resulted from our trip to China. The attack was intended to scare Chinese investors and undermine CPEC. These terrorists will not succeed.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 23, 2018
Chinese investment
China, one of Pakistan’s closest allies, has poured billions into the South Asian country in recent years as part of CPEC, a massive infrastructure project that seeks to connect its western province Xinjiang with the Arabian Sea port of Gwadar in Balochistan.
The project is one of the largest in Beijing’s "One Belt One Road" initiative, comprising a network of roads and sea routes involving 65 countries.
Pakistan sees the project as a "gamechanger", but it presents an enormous challenge in a country plagued by weak institutions, endemic corruption and a range of insurgencies in areas slated to host the corridor.
The subject of economic dividends from CPEC is extremely sensitive in some of those areas -- particularly in Balochistan.
Since the beginning of the project militants have repeatedly attacked construction sites, blowing up numerous gas pipelines and trains, and targeted Chinese workers.
In August this year three Chinese nationals were among six wounded in a suicide attack on a bus transporting Chinese engineers working in Balochistan, in an attack that was also claimed by the BLA.
The Pakistani military has been targeting insurgencies in the province since 2004, and has been repeatedly accused by international rights groups of abuses there.
Islamabad regularly accuses its eastern neighbour India of funding and arming Baloch separatists, and of targeting development projects in the province, particularly CPEC.
