According to the police, the security guard opened fire after a heated exchange with the Chinese nationals (Photo: Reuters).
Two Chinese nationals have been injured in the firing of a security guard of a factory in Karachi. After this incident, there is a possibility of increasing tension in the relations between Pakistan and China.
According to Arab News, the latest incident of firing took place in a factory located in Site Industrial Area of Karachi. Both the injured Chinese nationals have been shifted to Liaquat National Hospital.
Deputy Inspector General of Police South Syed Asad Raza said that the factory guard opened fire on the Chinese nationals after a dispute. He did not name the factory or clarify whether Chinese nationals worked there.
He further said that according to the initial investigation, the guard opened fire after a bitter exchange with the Chinese nationals, injuring both of them.
Hospital spokesperson Dr. Amjad Rizvi told Arab News that two Chinese citizens have been brought to the hospital. Both are under treatment.’
Sindh Home Minister Zia-ul-Haq Linjar has directed the police to conduct a ‘thorough investigation’.
China asked Pakistan to increase security measures after two Chinese engineers were killed in a bomb blast near Karachi airport last month.
Pakistan said in a joint statement last month that it had agreed to increase security for Chinese nationals and projects.
It should be remembered that on October 6, three people, including two Chinese engineers, were killed and 11 people were injured in an attack on a convoy carrying Chinese citizens in Karachi.
Baloch separatist group Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the blast.
Beijing had demanded Islamabad to “severely punish” the attackers.
In a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, it was said that “China calls on Pakistan to remove security deficiencies and take concrete action to protect the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the protection of Chinese citizens in Pakistan.”
Recent years have seen an increase in attacks on Chinese nationals. Chinese engineers, experts and installations have been targeted in Karachi, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Most of these attacks have been claimed by the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, which is active in Balochistan, and the outfit has adopted a strategy that deviates from its traditional methods of carrying out such attacks.
