Karachi: A blast has rocked a university in Karachi city of Sindh province. According to preliminary information, four people, including three Chinese language teachers, were killed in the blast. The bomber struck shortly after noon in a van parked inside a university campus near the Confucius Institute. After the blast, rescue and security agencies rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area.
There were seven to eight people in the van, police sources said. The dead and injured have been shifted to a nearby hospital, where the condition of the three injured is said to be critical, Gulshan Superintendent of Police (SP) said.
The bomber may have been a suicide bomber, police said
Karachi police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon said preliminary investigations suggested he could be a suicide bomber. He said close-circuit television footage from the site showed a woman wearing a burqa walking from head to toe in a van, followed by an explosion. The three Chinese who died include the director of the Chinese-built Confucius Institute, which offers undergraduate classes in the Chinese language, and two teachers. The fourth fatal van was driven by a Pakistani driver, officials said.
This is the first major attack on Chinese nationals in Pakistan
According to reports, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for the attack. He claimed that a female suicide bomber, Shari Baloch alias Brumshe, had carried out the attack. This is the first major attack on Chinese nationals in Pakistan since a bomb exploded on a bus at Dasu in the northwest in July 2021, killing nine Chinese nationals.
The video went viral on social media
An investigation is underway, the police official said. No one has claimed responsibility for the blast. The Balochistan Liberation Army, a militant group in the nearby province of Balochistan, has targeted Chinese civilians in past attacks. Videos of the van that exploded were also posted on social media in which flames completely destroyed the vehicle as police and paramilitary rangers rushed to the scene and cordoned off the area.
