On August 20, the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan issued a statement confirming that on the same day, a convoy carrying Chinese personnel was attacked by a suicide bomber on the Gwadar East Bay Expressway project in Balochistan, Pakistan, "slightly injuring" 1 Chinese personnel. Two local children died and many others were injured. It said the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan "strongly condemns this terrorist act and requires Pakistan to conduct a thorough investigation of the attack and severely punish the perpetrators". The Pakistani Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that Pakistan has conducted a comprehensive review of the safety of Chinese citizens in Pakistan. A report in the Global Times (August 21) said the Balochistan Liberation Army, a terrorist organisation, has claimed responsibility for the attack. The report added that the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has become a target of some terror forces in Pakistan, "which has something to do with the incitement of some international forces. In this region, some US and Indian intelligence forces keen to infiltrate into Pakistan have held a hostile attitude toward China's BRI. Blocking the development of the BRI has become their main target to contain China's rise". It said "the terror attack that targeted Chinese engineers who worked for the Dasu hydropower project is said to be fuelled by the Indian intelligence agency". Observing that the "intentions of the international forces must have influenced and incited terror forces in Pakistan", it said it is "highly likely that those forces collude with and support terrorism in Pakistan. China must be prepared for a long-term fight, together with the Pakistani government, against terrorism in Pakistan. China needs to resolutely support the Pakistani government to crack down on terrorism". It also urged the "new government in Afghanistan to strike the terrorist forces that were groomed in Afghanistan but now active in Pakistan. This is a window through which China could observe the new government of Afghanistan".
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