Pakistan: April 26 suicide attack test for Shahbaz Sharif’s China policy

“Hundreds of highly trained male and female members of the Baloch Liberation Army’s Majeed Brigade are ready to carry out deadly attacks in any part of Balochistan and Pakistan,” a spokesman for the group, Jeeyand Baloch, said in a statement published in English on Wednesday.

Baloch warned Beijing with “even harsher” attacks unless China halts “exploitation projects” and “occupying of the Pakistani state”.

Chinese nationals and business and investment interests are getting targeted in Balochistan, where Beijing is involved in lucrative mining and energy projects. Baloch separatistist have been fighting for a greater share of their province’s natural resources for decades, mostly focusing attacks on natural gas projects, infrastructure and the security forces.

In what would be a test for the Shahbaz Sharif government China on Wednesday called on Pakistan to “resolutely crack down” on terror outfits in the wake of a suicide attack in Karachi on Tuesday that killed three Chinese teachers and one Pakistani national. The attack could overshadow an otherwise “all weather Sino-Pak friendship”

The Chinese Foreign Ministry in a statement said China “strongly condemns and expresses great indignation over this major terrorist attack, conveys deep condolences to the victims and sympathies to the injured and bereaved families”, State media reported, adding that the Chinese Foreign Ministry and missions in Pakistan “will continue to urge relevant Pakistani departments to deal with the aftermath, treat the injured and resolutely crack down on the terrorist organisations involved”

Stability in Pakistan is necessary for Chinese investments to bear fruit, and increasing attacks could complicate projects.

Balochistan and its deep-water port in Gwadar are a major link in China’s Belt and Road Initiative of infrastructure and energy projects stretching to the West Asia and beyond. In April 2021, a suicide bomb attack at a luxury hotel hosting the Chinese ambassador in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, killed four and wounded dozens. The ambassador was unhurt in that attack, which was claimed by the Pakistan Taliban.

In July last year, a bus carrying engineers to a construction site near a dam in northwestern Pakistan was hit by a bomb, killing 13 people including nine Chinese workers. Pakistan later paid millions in compensation to the families of the Chinese workers killed.

The BLA is the largest and insurgent group in Balochistan. Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province, but has the country’s lowest population and is richest in terms of natural resources.