On August 13, 2023, two terrorists were killed by Security Forces (SFs) after they attacked a convoy of vehicles belonging to Chinese engineers and SFs near Faqir Colony Bridge in Gwadar city (Gwadar District), Balochistan. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) disclosed that the terrorists carried out the attack using small arms and hand grenades but “due to the efficient and swift response, two terrorists were sent to hell with no harm to any military or civil persons”.
A statement on the website of the Chinese consulate noted, “A Chinese convoy from the Gwadar port project was hit by roadside bombs and gunfire on its way back to the port area from Gwadar. No Chinese citizens were killed or injured.”
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), which took responsibility of the attack, however claimed that 11 SF personnel and four Chinese nationals were killed in the attack. In a media statement, the BLA ‘spokesman’ Jeeyand Baloch declared that BLA’s Majeed Brigade, the BLA’s ‘suicide bomber squad’, was behind the attack and identified the attackers as Naveed Baloch alias Aslam of Nigewar Dasht in Kech District and Maqbool Baloch alias Qaim of Awaran District. It also shared the photographs of the two attackers.
The BLA’s statement read, further, “We have cautioned China repeatedly to reconsider its activities in Balochistan. BLA views such endeavours as acts of exploitation… Any foreign investments in the region should only proceed after Balochistan achieves independence.”
The statement added that BLA had issued China a 90-day ultimatum to withdraw from Balochistan, or prepare for intensified attacks on its “key interests” in the region.
https://www.eurasiareview.com/22082023-pakistan-targeting-the-chinese-analysis/
