Accessibility links

Breaking News

Chinese Shipping Employee Killed In Karachi


Pakistani paramedics push a stretcher carrying an injured Chinese national after an attack by gunmen in Karachi on February 5.
Pakistani paramedics push a stretcher carrying an injured Chinese national after an attack by gunmen in Karachi on February 5.

Unidentified gunmen have opened fire on two Chinese nationals in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi, killing one and wounding the other.

Police said the two employees of a Chinese shipping company were targeted on February 5 while they were traveling in a car in the Zamzama district.

The perpetrators fired at least nine shots before fleeing in a car in what senior police officer Azad Khan described as a targeted attack.

Khan said one victim, identified as Chen Zhu, 46, was shot in the head and died in the hospital. The other survived the attack.

The two were said to be working for Cosco Shipping Lines Pakistan, a company that has been operating in the country since the early 1990s.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack and the motive was not immediately clear.

Karachi, Pakistan's largest city with more than 14 million inhabitants, is considered a hiding place for the Pakistani Taliban and other militants.

In May 2017, two Chinese nationals were abducted in Quetta, capital of the southwestern province of Balochistan, and later executed. The extremist group Islamic State claimed responsibility.

The Chinese presence is growing in Pakistan, where Beijing has invested heavily in infrastructure projects.

Also on February 5, a roadside bomb killed one person and wounded seven others in the town of Panjgur in Balochistan Province.

Ghulam Ali, provincial home secretary, said the bomb was planted in a busy area and detonated remotely.

Two of those wounded were in critical condition.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Resource-rich Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, has been plagued by sectarian violence, Islamist militant attacks, and a separatist insurgency that has led to thousands of casualties since 2004.

With reporting by AFP, AP, Reuters, and Dawn
  • 16x9 Image

    RFE/RL

    RFE/RL journalists report the news in 27 languages in 23 countries where a free press is banned by the government or not fully established. We provide what many people cannot get locally: uncensored news, responsible discussion, and open debate.

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.

To find out more, click here.

XS
SM
MD
LG