KARACHI: A security guard at a factory in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi shot and injured two Chinese nationals before fleeing on Tuesday, police said, in an incident likely to further strain recently fraying relations between Islamabad and longtime ally Beijing.
The guard, identified only as Sharif and belonging to a private security company, fled the scene, and police are conducting raids to arrest him.
China, breaking with tradition, has recently publicly spoken out against security threats to its workers and nationals living in Pakistan, where hundreds of them work on Beijing-funded projects linked to the over $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Last month, two Chinese nationals were killed in a suicide bombing near the international airport in Karachi. In March this year, a suicide bombing killed five Chinese engineers and a Pakistani driver in northwestern Pakistan as they headed to the Dasu Dam, the biggest hydropower project in the country. In 2022, three Chinese educators and their Pakistani driver were killed when an explosion ripped through a van at the University of Karachi. A blast on a bus killed 13 people in north Pakistan in 2021, including nine Chinese nationals.
The latest shooting took place at a factory in Karachi’s SITE industrial area, after which two injured Chinese citizens were rushed to Liaquat National Hospital.
Deputy Inspector General of Police South, Syed Asad Raza, said the factory guard opened fire at the Chinese nationals after an argument. He did not name the factory or what the argument was about.
“According to preliminary investigation, the guard opened fire after a heated argument with the Chinese nationals, leaving two Chinese citizens injured,” Raza told Arab News, adding the Chinese nationals were employed at a private textile mill.
He said both Chinese nationals were employed by the mill and had been brought to the factory under tight security from the Defence neighborhood of the city.
“Once inside the factory, their protection was the responsibility of the security company,” he said. “We have arrested four guards and their supervisor for negligence. The guard who shot the Chinese nationals has escaped.”
Raza said that according to preliminary investigation, the standard operating procedures for the security of foreign nationals had been violated. He added that there were no CCTV cameras at the place where the incident took place.
Meanwhile, the injured Chinese workers were taken to a nearby hospital.
“Two Chinese nationals have been brought to our hospital. Both are under treatment,” Dr. Amjad Rizvi, a spokesperson at the medical facility, told Arab News.
Sindh Home Minister Zia ul Haq Lanjar has directed the police to conduct a “thorough investigation,” his office said.
According to an official statement, the minister has also directed to carry out the audit of security companies providing protection to Chinese nationals and other foreigners.
“The physical and mental fitness tests of guards assigned to important duties like security should be done,” the statement quoted Lanjar as saying.
He added only trained and fully fit security guards should be employed by these companies.
Pakistan said in a joint statement last month it had agreed to increase security for Chinese citizens and projects in the South Asian nation, as Beijing called for urgent security measures following an escalation in militant threats in the country.
China has pumped billions of dollars into Pakistan over the years building infrastructure under the Belt and Road Initiative, while also running a strategic port and a major mine in the country.
