A group of militants launched an attack on a Pakistani military convoy close to the strategic southwest port of Gwadar on Sunday. The convoy was engaged in providing security for a group of Chinese nationals en route to a construction project, as affirmed by both the military and China’s consulate in Karachi.
China’s substantial investments in the mineral-rich province of Balochistan, within the framework of its Belt and Road Initiative, encompass the development of the Gwadar deepwater port. This endeavour persists despite a long-standing separatist insurgency in the region.
Employing small arms and hand grenades, the militants conducted the assault, stated the military’s public relations division. The statement further indicated the demise of two militants and the absence of any harm to military personnel or civilians.
Expressing condemnation of the attack, China’s consulate in Karachi emphasized that none of its citizens within the convoy sustained injuries.
An anonymous Pakistani security official revealed that two attackers were killed in an exchange of gunfire, with no harm inflicted upon the convoy. The attack was aimed at Chinese passengers journeying from Gwadar airport towards a construction site within the port vicinity, the official conveyed.
Taking responsibility for the attack, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist faction, asserted that it had inflicted multiple casualties. However, no corroborative accounts from the locale validated such claims.
Attributing their actions to the alleged exploitation of Balochistan’s natural resources by Pakistan, along with Chinese support for it, the BLA and other militant groups have directed their actions against Chinese interests in recent times.
Situated near the Strait of Hormuz, a pivotal oil shipping route in the Arabian Sea, Gwadar is in the process of development under Chinese management.
