The blast, which took place near Jinnah International Airport, targeted a convoy of Chinese workers and claimed the lives of four individuals…reports Asian Lite News
The alleged orchestrator of the October 6 Karachi airport suicide bombing, along with four suspected associates, including a female bomber, has been apprehended, according to Sindh’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on Monday. The arrests were made in various parts of Balochistan, a province marked by a longstanding separatist insurgency.
The blast, which took place near Jinnah International Airport, targeted a convoy of Chinese workers and claimed the lives of four individuals, including two Chinese engineers, while injuring 17 others. The banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), responsible for the attack, has a history of violent activities against foreign nationals and state infrastructure.
According to CTD official Umar Khatab, the attackers were identified through facial verification, revealing the involvement of a trained female militant who had traveled with the alleged mastermind to the attack site in an SUV. She witnessed the bomber strike the convoy carrying the Chinese nationals, who were returning from a port industrial zone on Karachi’s outskirts.
The BLA’s Majeed group, an especially active faction, has increasingly recruited young women for suicide missions. Khatab cited a prior attack where a female suicide bomber killed Chinese teachers at Karachi University, highlighting a troubling trend of female involvement in militant activities. The BLA has repeatedly attacked Chinese nationals and assets in recent years, as the group accuses both Islamabad and Beijing of exploiting Balochistan’s natural resources for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, a claim authorities deny.
The militant group has staged multiple high-profile attacks, including a bombing at Quetta Railway Station and an attack on a naval base near Gwadar port. In April 2022, it carried out a suicide bombing near the Confucius Institute at Karachi University, killing three Chinese tutors and a Pakistani driver. The BLA’s assaults continue to underscore the challenges facing regional security and CPEC development.
ALSO READ: ‘India’s approach aimed at building long-term partnerships’
[soliloquy id="151345"]