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The vehicle carrying Chinese engineers, who were killed in a suicide attack last month in Pakistan’s Shangla district, was neither bullet nor bomb-proof, police informed.
The attack on March 26 in Bisham city of Shangla district claimed 6 lives, including five Chinese engineers along with one Pakistani citizen.
The police report cited the bus targeted in the attack was travelling at a distance of 15 feet from the other bus and fell into a 300-feet-deep ditch after the suicide bomber crashed his explosives-laden vehicle into the vehicle.
The report added that the buses part of the convoy carrying Chinese nationals was equipped with close circuit television cameras (CCTV).
The development comes a day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered disciplinary action against senior police officers for “negligence” in light of an inquiry report over the incident.
“The prime minister has directed to take action against the regional police officer (RPO) Hazara Division; district police officer of Upper Kohistan and Lower Kohistan; director security, Dasu Hydropower Project and commandant special security unit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within 15 days,” Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said.
Chinese firms raise safety concerns
Meanwhile, reports cited the terror attack halted work on the 765 kV transmission line associated with the Dasu Hydropower Project and also sparked concerns among international businesses over the safety of their employees in the area.
Harbin Electric International Company Limited (HEI), the Chinese firm responsible for managing the project, issued a force majeure notification, expressing serious safety concern in Pakistan, according to the Balochistan Post.
It further said, Yu Hong, the project manager overseeing Lot-2 of the 765 kV Transmission Line Project, emphasised the adverse effects of the attack on the site progress, potentially resulting in additional delays or even a complete suspension of work
Concerns have surfaced regarding the financial repercussions of the delay, given that the project is already behind schedule as per agreements with the World Bank, the report noted.
Pakistan is hurtling towards a complete meltdown
Amid the crisis, human rights activist Amjad Ayub Mirza has expressed concern about Pakistan’s escalating crisis.
Mirza asserts that Pakistan is hurtling towards a complete meltdown, citing widespread discontent and unrest across various regions. Mirza highlighted the plight of Gilgit-Baltistan and said that people in the region are protesting on the streets, raising demands for basic rights encompassing economic, social, political, and human rights.
Similarly, in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, protests against electricity bills and a civil disobedience movement persist, with plans for a mass sit-in protest next month.
“People are protesting against the electricity bill boycott campaign, and the civil disobedience movement is still alive and kicking. On the 11th of May, which is next month, hundreds and thousands of people are marching towards Muzaffarabad to observe a sit-in protest against additional charges added to the electricity bills, against taxes, and against cuts in subsidies,” PoK activist Mirza told ANI.
He added, “The sit-in will be observed at the so-called legislative assembly of Azad Kashmir, which has no powers even to make the slightest legislation. Yet it is called a Legislative Assembly.”
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Published: 07 Apr 2024, 08:20 PM IST
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