The Foreign Office (FO) said on Thursday that there was no doubt that Tuesday’s suicide attack in Bisham – which claimed the lives of six people, including five Chinese nationals – was “orchestrated by the enemies of Pak-China friendship”.
Five Chinese engineers – and their Pakistani driver – were killed in a suicide bombing on Tuesday while traveling between Islamabad and the construction site of a water dam in Das in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The bus was attacked in Bisham town of Shangla district in KP.
The attack prompted China to demand a thorough investigation into the deadly blast and security for its citizens. In response, Islamabad announced a swift investigation to hold the “perpetrators and accomplices” accountable.
According to police, the bus was traveling from Islamabad to Kohistan when it came under attack on the Karakoram Highway. “It was a suicide attack on a Chinese convoy and an explosive-laden vehicle coming from Kohistan hit the bus,” Bisham Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Juma Rehman told Dawn. SDPO Rehman said that after the attack, the bus caught fire and fell into a ravine.
“A huge amount of explosives were used in the attack, the force of which threw the bus into the ravine,” he said. The officer said police have cordoned off the area to collect evidence. “We have also collected the body parts of the suspected suicide bomber from the spot,” SDPO Rehman said.
Shortly after the bombing, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, along with members of his cabinet, visited the Chinese embassy to assure Beijing of safety for its citizens and promised a comprehensive investigation into the suicide bombing.
The government on Wednesday reiterated its determination to comprehensively fight terrorism by using all resources at the state’s disposal and swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice. In response to the Chinese government’s demand to urgently investigate the incident and take action against those involved, the government also decided to form a joint investigation team (JIT) to look into the attack.
FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch addressed the weekly press briefing today where she said that Pakistan is in touch with the Chinese government regarding the “heinous attack”.
She said Pakistan was “fully committed to bringing terrorists and their facilitators and supporters to justice”.
