Five Chinese nationals killed in suicide bomb attack in Pakistan; China demands probe

NEW DELHI: Five Chinese nationals along with their Pakistani driver were killed after a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into their convoy in northwest Pakistan.
Their vehicle plunged into a deep ravine off the mountainous Karakoram Highway after the bomber rammed his car into them and detonated his explosives, police said. Zahid Khan, a senior local police official, told AFP that four Chinese nationals and their driver were killed.
"Upon reaching an unpopulated area in Besham, a suicide bomber crashed his vehicle into theirs.The vehicle caught fire and plunged down the ravine," he said.

China asks Pakistan to investigate the attack
China's embassy in Pakistan demanded investigations into an attack by a suicide bomber. "The Chinese embassy and consulates in Pakistan have immediately launched emergency work, demanding that the Pakistani side conduct a thorough investigation into the attack, severely punish the perpetrators, and take practical and effective measures to protect the safety of Chinese citizens," the embassy said in statement.
This isn't the first time Dasu, home to a significant dam project, witnessed attacks. In 2021, a bus explosion claimed the lives of 13 individuals, including nine Chinese nationals.
The attack on the Chinese convoy comes on a day when Pakistan was already reeling with attack on their second largest airbase PNS Siddique. Multiple explosions and gunfire by Balochistan Liberation Army, that claimed responsibility, left one paramilitary soldier dead while security forces on the Pakistan side killed all five of the assailants in retaliatory fire.
Meanwhile, Pakistani security forces killed at least four terrorists during an intelligence-based operation in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said. The operation took place on Monday in the Dera Ismail Khan district on the reported presence of terrorists in the area, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) - the military's media wing.
An intense exchange of fire took place between the militants and the security personnel, during which the four terrorists were killed, Geo News reported.
In February, Pakistan witnessed 97 militant incidents, causing 87 deaths and 118 injuries, as reported by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS).