UNS: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that Afghan soil was used in the attack on Chinese nationals working in Pakistan.Speaking to media in Lahore, the interior minister said that China always supported Pakistan and we have very deep ties with this country.
“The attack on Chinese nationals was pre-planned and we have raised the issue with the interim government of Afghanistan,” Naqvi said.
He added that Pakistan has beefed up the security at borders and we know very well the forces who want to sabotage the Sino-Pak ties.
According to Mohsin Naqvi, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is being supported in the border areas and we have very strong evidence of it.
“We have made new SOPs for the security of Chinese nationals working in Pakistan. The prime minister will also visit China next month,” said Naqvi.
Also Read: Five Chinese nationals among six killed in Shangla terror attack
The chairman of National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) Rai Tahir said that the car used in the suicide attack entered Pakistan via Afghanistan.
“The TTP was behind the attack on Chinese nationals in Besham and the plan was orchestrated in Afghanistan,” said Rai Tahir.
Five Chinese nationals were killed when the vehicle they were travelling by was attacked near Besham – a town located in Shangla district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in March this year.
A suicide bomber had rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the convoy of Chinese engineers which was on its way from Islamabad to their camp in Dasu.
Dasu is the site of a major dam and the area had also been attacked in the past. A blast on a bus had killed 13 people, including nine Chinese nationals, in 2021.