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Pakistan
This Week in Asia

Explainer | Pakistan bus blast: why is anti-China terrorism suspected, who is behind it and what do they want?

  • China’s closeness to Pakistan make its projects a target for Baloch separatists, while its treatment of Uygurs has angered Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
  • Baloch militants have already attacked a Chinese consulate, and the US’ exit from Afghanistan leaves China as the new ‘big villain’ in the TTP’s eyes

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Pakistani rescuers inspect the scene of a blast on a bus carrying Chinese engineers to the Dasu dam in Kohistan, Pakistan. Photo: EPA
Tom Hussain

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that an initial probe into a bus explosion that killed 13 people, including nine Chinese workers, in its northern region on Wednesday suggested the incident was an accident.

China has expressed shock and asked for a full investigation, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi saying that if it was a terrorist attack, the perpetrators should be arrested immediately. Security measures for China-Pakistan cooperation projects should also be strengthened, he said.

Suspicions of terrorism grew on Thursday, when Pakistan’s Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said initial investigations had confirmed traces of explosives and that an attack could not be ruled out.
Despite China’s worries about the safety of its projects and citizens at work sites, analysts say Beijing is not likely to pull back from the US$65 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The CPEC aims to connect western China to the Gwadar seaport in southern Pakistan as part of Beijing’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative to boost global connectivity.
But Pakistan is facing a growing risk of terrorist attacks, as US troops pull out from neighbouring Afghanistan. China’s tightly knit ties with Pakistan, the location of many CPEC projects in restive areas of the country, and its widely criticised policies towards Uygur Muslims in Xinjiang have also made its nationals and projects a target both for the al-Qaeda aligned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and rebels in Balochistan, analysts said.

“There is no shortage of violent actors that oppose Chinese projects and the overall Chinese footprint in Pakistan. Separatist insurgents and Islamist terrorists both view China as being in league with a Pakistani state that they despise,” said Michael Kugelman, senior South Asia associate at the Wilson Centre, a Washington-based think tank.

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Nine Chinese nationals among 13 killed in Pakistan bus blast

Nine Chinese nationals among 13 killed in Pakistan bus blast
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