ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has politely refused the United States offer to assist Quetta carnage investigation, The Nation learnt.

Earlier, the US strongly condemned the suicide attack at the Civil Hospital in Quetta and offered assistance to the Pakistani government in its bid to bring to justice the perpetrators of the assault.

US State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said: “We offer our assistance to Prime Minister (Nawaz) Sharif as his government investigates and works to bring the murderers to justice.”

A senior official at the foreign ministry said Washington had been told that Pakistan valued its offer to help at this critical time but was not able to accept it for now.

“They have been politely refused. We have told them our agencies are capable to investigate the case and find out the culprits behind the terror attack,” he said.

The official said the US repeated its offer to help ‘as and when required’ to defeat the terror network.

The US offer to help came after it withheld $300 million of military aid to Pakistan last week after Defence Secretary Ash Carter found he could not certify that enough action had been taken against the Haqqani Network, the latest dispute straining relations between the two nations.

“The funds could not be released to the government of Pakistan at this time because the secretary has not yet certified that Pakistan has taken sufficient action against the Haqqani Network,” Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump said.

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying yesterday said Beijing was deeply shocked and saddened by the terrorist attack which caused grave casualties in Quetta, Pakistan, “we express our strong condemnation. Our hearts go out to the families of those killed and injured, and we mourn for the lives lost.”

The spokesperson said China opposed all forms of terrorism, adding, “We will always stand behind the Pakistani side in its fight against terrorism and its campaign for stability of the country and security of the people.”