ISLAMABAD: Two Chinese nationals who were killed in an explosion near Pakistan’s Karachi international airport on Sunday worked for a power plant, Pakistan’s finance minister said on Tuesday.
It was the most serious attack against Chinese nationals in Pakistan since a suicide bomber killed five Chinese engineers working on a hydropower project in March, which prompted Beijing to call on Islamabad to implement more stringent security measures.
The Chinese embassy in Islamabad and Pakistan’s foreign ministry have described Sunday’s blast as a “terrorist attack.”
In a statement emailed to journalists, separatist militant group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed the explosion was a suicide attack carried out by them, using a vehicle-borne bomb.
Pakistani media has reported that nearly a dozen people were injured in the blast.
A top security official in Islamabad told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the latest attack was a security failure and that all senior staff responsible for Chinese security in Karachi had been removed from service.
Pakistan’s interior ministry is primarily responsible for the Chinese nationals’ security.
There has been little information released about the identities of the Chinese nationals who were killed in a highly secured area of the southern port city.
“They were engineers who belong to those IPPs (Independent Power Producers) with whom we were negotiating tariff revision,” Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said in a video statement broadcast by local TV news channels.
Pakistan has been renegotiating contracts with independent power producers to rein in electricity tariffs as households and businesses buckle under soaring energy costs.
The Chinese embassy said a convoy from the Port Qasim Electric Power Company was attacked near the airport.
The BLA is one of many separatist militant groups, which seeks independence for the province of Balochistan, located in Pakistan’s southwest and bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
In August, it launched coordinated attacks in the province, in which more than 70 people were killed.
BLA specifically targets Chinese interests — in particular the strategic port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea, accusing Beijing of helping Islamabad exploit local resources. It has previously killed Chinese citizens working in the region and attacked Beijing’s consulate in Karachi.
The port is part of Beijing’s $65 billion investment in Pakistan’s road and infrastructure building called the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) under President Xi’s Belt and Road initiative.

MULTAN: England chipped at Pakistan’s massive 556, three-centuries total by reaching 96-1 at stumps on day two Tuesday of the first Test.
Pakistan started the day on 328-4 and was spearheaded by Salman Ali Agha’s unbeaten 104 and Saud Shakeel’s 82.
On a pitch which still looks good for batting with little help for fast bowlers or spinners, England raced at nearly five-runs-per-over as Zac Crawley smashed 11 fours in his unbeaten 64. Joe Root was not out on 32.
England lost stand-in captain Ollie Pope without scoring in the second over to a stunning one-handed catch by a diving Aamer Jamal at midwicket off Naseem Shah. England trails Pakistan by 460 runs.
Pope had to open the innings after Ben Duckett injured his left thumb while grabbing a sharp chest-high catch of No. 11 Abrar Ahmed in the slips that finally ended England’s heat-sapping 5 1/2 sessions on the field at Multan Stadium.
Whether Duckett bats was yet to be determined.
England’s Jack Leach took 3-160 and Shoaib Bashir 1-124 but Pakistan dominated both spinners.
Brydon Carse’s long wait for his first wicket in his debut test came on Tuesday, which he finished with 2-74. Gus Atkinson (2-99) and Chris Woakes (1-69) toiled without finding any reverse swing on the green square.
England did well in the first session and allowed Pakistan only 69 runs with Carse breaking the resistance of nightwatchman Naseem, who gloved a legside catch after scoring his test-best 33.
Naseem denied England a breakthrough for 1 1/2 hours and braved a couple of blows. He got a knock on the back of his helmet when he was struck hard by an Atkinson short ball and also received brief treatment when Carse struck the batter’s right thumb off another short ball before round-the-wicket worked for the right arm fast bowler.
Leach had Mohammad Rizwan caught at mid-off for a 12-ball duck.
Shakeel, who began the day on 35, showed plenty of resistance and raised his half-century with a swept boundary off Bashir. Shakeel was undone by the off-spinner after lunch and feathered a low catch to Root in the slips.
Agha took charge with meticulous drives and sweeps. His third test century followed tons by captain Shan Masood (151) and Abdullah Shafique (102) on day one.
Agha gave Pakistan an ideal finish on the benign pitch. In the company of Shaheen Shah Afridi (26), Agha hit 10 boundaries and three sixes in his 119-ball knock to propel Pakistan past 550.
England was scratchy late in Pakistan’s innings as wicketkeeper Jamie Smith missed an easy stumping of Abrar, and Atkinson couldn’t judge a catch over his shoulder before Root folded the innings.