A suspected suicide bomb attack on Chinese shipyard workers in Pakistan has been foiled by police.
The PTI news agency cited police officers as saying the attacker was killed by security forces on Wednesday following an intelligence tip-off.
An attack was reportedly being planned at a shipyard in Karachi’s Port Qasim.
Senior superintendent Hasan Sardar said: “The terrorist was shot dead after the police increased the security for the foreign workers after an intelligence tip-off that a banned outfit had planned a terror attack.”
The attacker is said to have retaliated with gunshots following a confrontation with officers as he was seen approaching Chinese nationals at the shipyard.
“The terrorist also fired and one policeman was injured,” Sardar added.
Police said they found a suicide vest, explosives, a detonator and a Kalashnikov rifle with ammunition on the body.
After the incident, the superintendent said Pakistan and China had agreed to step up security and intelligence-based round-the-clock surveillance cover for foreign nationals.
This is not the first time terrorists and separatists have targeted Chinese nationals working in Pakistan, PTI reported.
In April last year, 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, including engineers, work in Pakistan as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.
This connects Gwadar Port in Pakistan’s Balochistan with China’s Xinjiang province and is the flagship project of China’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative.
