KARACHI: Pakistan on Thursday condemned the killing of three Chinese workers in a militant attack in Tajikistan near the Afghan border, expressing solidarity with Beijing and Dushanbe and warning that the incident underscored the escalating regional threat posed by militant groups operating from Afghanistan.

The Chinese nationals were working for a gold-extraction company in southern Tajikistan when they were targeted in an attack that Tajik authorities say was carried out from across the border with Afghanistan. Tajikistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement the assault targeted a compound belonging to Shohin SM, a private gold-mining company operating in the Shamsiddin Shohin district along the Tajik–Afghan frontier. 

Tajikistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban government have engaged in a flurry of diplomacy in recent months to ease tensions and prevent armed clashes along their long, shared border. Beijing and Dushanbe have also expanded security cooperation in recent years due to concerns over cross-border militancy and instability spilling over from Afghanistan. China has thousands of workers deployed across Central and South Asia on infrastructure and mining projects, making them frequent targets of terror groups.

“Pakistan unequivocally condemns this cowardly attack on Chinese nationals,” the foreign office said in a statement.

“The use of armed drones in the incident underlines the gravity of threat emanating from Afghanistan and the brazenness of those behind it.”

“As a neighbor that has repeatedly suffered terrorist attacks orchestrated from Afghan soil, the people of Pakistan fully understand and share the grief and anguish of our Chinese friends and Tajik partners,” the foreign ministry added.

Islamabad has long accused militant outfits, including the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), of sheltering inside Afghanistan and staging cross-border attacks, particularly since the Taliban takeover in 2021. Pakistani officials say these groups have intensified operations against Pakistan and other regional states despite repeated diplomatic engagements urging Kabul to act. The Afghan Taliban government in Kabul denies it harbors militant groups. 

“Pakistan has consistently stressed that Afghan territory must not be used for terrorism against its neighbors or any other country,” the Pakistani foreign ministry said. “The repeated use of Afghan soil by terrorist elements and their continued presence under the patronage of Afghan Taliban regime, is a matter of serious concern for the entire region and the wider international community.”

Islamabad urged authorities in Kabul to take decisive action against groups operating from their territory: 

“Concrete and verifiable action against the perpetrators, abettors, facilitators and financiers of terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil is the only way to address this growing menace.”