Two Chinese nationals have been killed and at least 10 people injured in a suspected suicide attack near Karachi airport in Pakistan.
A third body, not yet officially identified, is thought to be that of the attacker, the BBC understands.
The Chinese embassy in Pakistan said the explosion on Sunday night was a “terrorist attack” targeting a convoy of Chinese engineers working on a power project in Sindh province.
The separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which has in recent years carried out attacks on Chinese nationals involved in development projects in Pakistan, has said it carried out the attack.
The blast was reportedly heard in various areas around the city, with footage from local media showing thick smoke and cars set alight.
Pictures online show security officials and firefighters investigating the explosion site, with several vehicles charred by the blast.
A police surgeon, Dr Summaiya told Dawn news: “Ten injured persons, including one in critical condition, have been brought the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre [JPMC].”
She added the injured included a police constable and a woman.
A statement posted on X from Sindh’s Interior Minister’s office said that a “tanker truck” had exploded on Airport Road. Roads leading to Jinnah International Airport were sealed off following the attack, but the airport is functioning as usual on Monday.
There has also been heightened security in Pakistan as it prepares to host the leaders’ summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
There have been multiple attacks on Chinese nationals in Pakistan in recent years. The BLA has claimed responsibility for several of them, including an attack in March on a Pakistani naval airbase near Gwadar port, another main feature of the China-Pakistan economic corridor.
In April 2022, the group killed three Chinese tutors and a Pakistani driver in a suicide bombing near Karachi University’s Confucius Institute.
In November 2018, gunmen killed at least four people in an attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi. – BBC
By Caroline Davis and Kelly Ng