Shehbaz Sharif says govt will ensure best security arrangements for Chinese workers in Pakistan n Vows exemplary punishment for perpetrators, culprits behind March 26 suicide attack.

 

DASU/ISLAMABAD/ PESHAWAR   -  Prime Minister Sheh­baz Sharif on Monday assured foolproof se­curity measures for the Chinese nationals work­ing on Dasu Hydro­power Project as well as across the country and resolved to ensure exemplary punishment for the perpetrators of March 26 incident. 

Addressing a gather­ing of the Chinese en­gineers and workers, he said the government would ensure that the perpetrators and cul­prits of March 26, inci­dent should get the ex­emplary punishment so that it would be a lesson and that no one could commit such dastardly act in future.

The prime minister said that the sole pur­pose of his visit was to offer deep and sincere condolences and ex­press feelings to the Chinese brothers and sisters in Dasu over a sad incident that took place on March 26 in which five Chinese and one local lost their lives He said it was a cowardly act on part of the terrorists to kill in­nocent Chinese and a Pakistani for no other reason except to disturb and damage the excep­tional friendship between Paki­stan and China.

Federal Ministers Amir Muqam, Attaullah Tarar, Chair­man WAPDA Lt Gen. (retd) Sajjad Ghani, Chinese Am­bassador in Pakistan Jiang Zaidong, members of the Chi­nese company and senior offi­cials were also present on the occasion.

Terming it a job of the ene­mies of Pakistan, the prime min­ister said that it was a dastard­ly act on part of the perpetrators who found every opportunity to harm this friendship which was strengthening by each passing day and expanding and moving forward with speed. 

“That is the reason enemies do not spare any opportunity to damage and create a wedge between the two Iron Broth­ers,” he added. Prime Minister Sharif said that they shared the moment of sadness and sor­row and assured that the gov­ernment would not leave any stone unturned and would not spare any opportunity to en­sure the best possible security measures for the Chinese fam­ilies and nationals. 

He also assured the Chi­nese leadership, the people and the Chinese ambassador that all foolproof security ar­rangements would be made for the Chinese people work­ing and supporting a prosper­ous and developing Pakistan. The prime minister said that after the incident, he had visit­ed embassy immediately to of­fer condolences on behalf of his government and the people of Pakistan to the Chinese leader­ship and the Chinese people. 

He informed that a joint in­vestigation team was also con­stituted on the same day and its report was due any time. He further assured that they would not waste time to act upon the recommendations of the inquiry committee in letter and spirit. 

Besides, a high level securi­ty meeting held on March 27 in which they discussed better coordination with the provin­cial governments over the ad­ditional security measures, he added. The prime minister said that Pak-China friendship would march forward in unison and the enemies of CPEC and this excep­tional relationship would be de­feated completely.

Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador Jiang Zaidong said that the prime minister visited the embassy and reassured se­curity for the Chinese nationals. He also expressed gratitude to the government and people of Pakistan for expressing solidar­ity, adding that they were ready to work together to further build their strategic partner­ship with Pakistan. The gather­ing also observed 30-second si­lence for those who lost lives in the tragic incident.

Meanwhile, Different security agencies have made separate ar­rests in the recent suicide bomb­ing case that killed five Chinese citizens along with a Pakistani driver in Shangla district last week. Official sources say that at least 12 suspects were arrested during nationwide raids. 

Also, the vehicle used in the bombing was sent to Forensic Science Laboratory on Monday, officials said.

A senior official told this cor­respondent that different secu­rity agencies have made sepa­rate arrests, which may be in dozens, but added that there is no cogent information avail­able to confirm who is behind the attack. 

Earlier, some media reports suggested that the vehicle used in the bombing had been iden­tified to be unregistered. 

However, a security official said: “Today, the vehicle used in the bombing was shifted to FSL [Forensic Science Labora­tory), and once it is investigat­ed, only then we will be able to confirm whether the vehicle is unregistered or it can be traced further during investigations,” he added.

Meanwhile, KP’s Additional IG CTD Shaukat Abbas said he is not in a position to say some­thing regarding the incident and that he would share infor­mation with media once there is a significant breakthrough in the probe.

On March 26, a suicide bomber had driven an explosives-laden vehicle into the engineers’ vehi­cle at a dam site, resulting in the death of six individuals.

In July 2021, a bomb attack on a coach in Dasu Kohistan claimed the lives of 13 people, including nine Chinese nation­als, two Frontier Constabulary personnel, and two locals.

A team from China has also arrived in Pakistan recently to join the investigations into the bombing on their workers in Bisham area of Shangla district.