At least one person sustained minor injuries in a remote-controlled explosion targeting a Chinese citizen in Karachi’s Gulshan-i-Hadeed area earlier today, police said.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rao Anwar said a pamphlet in Sindhi was recovered from the site of the blast denouncing “foreign control over Sindh’s natural resources”.
The injured was a driver for a Chinese citizen who was residing in the area and traveling without security. The Chinese national was safe, said SSP Rao.
Gulshan-i-Hadeed is a neighbourhood in Karachi’s Bin Qasim Town. The town is situated near Pakistan Steel Mills and houses its workers.
Hundreds of Chinese workers are currently working all over Pakistan on various development projects, including the the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the Thar coal power project.
In Aug 2015, the Sindh police claimed to have chalked out a comprehensive security plan for Chinese nationals and professionals visiting Karachi and other parts of the province for CPEC-related projects. Nearly six months ago, for 111 Chinese projects, the Sindh police were ensuring security to more than 1,500 nationals of the neighbouring country.
The main responsibility for securing the corridor, vital to Pakistan’s long-term prosperity, lies with a new army division established in the last few months and numbering an estimated 13,000 troops.
Inspector General (IG) Sindh AD Khawaja, taking notice of the incident, called for an investigation.