At least two killed in suicide bombing in southwest Pakistan

A suicide bombing targeting a vehicle carrying Chinese nationals in Gwadar in the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan has killed two Pakistani children playing by the roadside, the interior ministry and police said.

A Chinese national and two other Pakistanis were wounded in the attack in Balochistan province. Hours after the bombing, the separatist Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the bombing in the port town of Gwadar.

The police said the Chinese workers were traveling in three vehicles and were being escorted by security forces. The attacker detonated his device when officers tried to intercept him.

The suicide blast took place at the East Bay Road in the port city of Gwadar at about 7pm (14:00 GMT). Chinese nationals sustained minor injuries, a police statement said.

Separatist fighters have waged a long-running armed uprising in Balochistan.

The area is a key district where the Chinese are working on projects related to the $60bn China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The projects include road construction, power plants and agriculture development.

China has in recent years played a key role in developing the deep-water port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea. But, there have been some attacks on Pakistanis and Chinese working for the economic corridor projects.

Last month, a bus carrying Pakistani and Chinese workers fell into a ravine in northwestern Pakistan after a suicide bomber targeted the vehicle. Nine Chinese and four Pakistanis were killed in that attack in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which borders Afghanistan.