ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar announced on Saturday the government has decided to take disciplinary action against senior officials responsible to provide security to Chinese workers after five of them were killed in a deadly militant attack last month in the northwest of the country.
The incident took place when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives laden vehicle into a convoy of Chinese engineers which was on its way from Islamabad to their camp in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province where they were working on a hydropower project in Dasu.
The killing of the Chinese nationals along with their local driver prompted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to conduct a series of security meetings in which he instructed the relevant authorities to prevent such attacks in the future.
Sharif also constituted an inquiry committee to investigate the incident.
“We will not let anyone disrupt the peace [in the country],” Tarar said while addressing a news conference in Lahore. “Our armed forces and law enforcement agencies are committed to eradicating terrorism and are playing their role with full intent and dedication to uproot this scourge from its roots.”
“The inquiry committee sent its report in which the prime minister ordered disciplinary action against some officers, saying they had been negligent in their duties and should have been more vigilant,” he continued.
The information minister said these officials included the regional police officer Hazara division, district police officers in upper and lower Kohistan district, director security at Dasu hydropower project and commandant special security unit in KP.
Tarar informed that disciplinary action would be taken against them within the next 15 days.
“This is an example that future matters related to Chinese security will be taken more seriously, and no shortcomings will be tolerated,” he said.
He also pointed out the prime minister was taking personal interest in the security of Chinese workers in Pakistan, and the government was trying to devise a comprehensive and effective mechanism to protect them against such attacks.
Pakistan announces disciplinary action against senior officials after suicide attack on Chinese workers
https://arab.news/c8c6n
Pakistan announces disciplinary action against senior officials after suicide attack on Chinese workers
- Information minister says these officials had been negligent in their duties and should have been more vigilant
- He calls the decision an example that future matters related to Chinese security will be taken more seriously
Death toll in Pakistan wedding suicide blast rises to six
- Attack targeted members of local peace committee in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan
- Peace committees are community-based groups that report militant activity to security forces
PESHAWAR: The death toll from a suicide bombing at a wedding ceremony in northwestern Pakistan rose to six, police said on Saturday, after funeral prayers were held for those killed in the attack a day earlier.
The bomber detonated explosives during a wedding gathering in the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, injuring more than a dozen, some of them critically.
“The death toll has surged to six,” said Nawab Khan, Superintendent of Police for Saddar Dera Ismail Khan. “Police have completed the formalities and registered the case against unidentified attackers.”
“It was a suicide attack and the Counter Terrorism Department will further investigate the case,” he continued, adding that security had been stepped up across the district to prevent further incidents.
No militant group has claimed responsibility for the blast so far.
Khan cautioned against speculation, citing ongoing militancy in the area, and said the investigation was being treated with “utmost seriousness.”
The explosion targeted the home of a member of a local peace committee, which is part of community-based groups that cooperate with security forces and whose members have frequently been targeted by militants in the past.
Some media reports also cited a death toll of seven, quoting police authorities.
Emergency officials said several of the wounded were taken to hospital soon after the blast.
Militant attacks have intensified in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since the Taliban returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021, with Islamabad accusing Afghan authorities of “facilitating” cross-border assaults, a charge Kabul denies.
