Shangla attack: Vehicle carrying Chinese nationals lacked adequate protection

Islamabad: The initial investigation into the tragic suicide attack targeting Chinese nationals near Besham indicated that their vehicle lacked adequate protection against bullets and bombs.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police submitted another report on the incident to the federal government to explain additional details including the unfortunate death of a female engineer among the victims.

The attack occurred as five Chinese nationals were traveling in a convoy near Besham, a town situated in the Shangla district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle, targeting the convoy of Chinese engineers en route from Islamabad to their camp in Dasu.

The suicide attack caused the bus carrying the Chinese nationals to plunge into a 300-feet deep ditch.

The Besham police station was only 6 kilometers away from the scene of the incident, while the Dasu dam, where the engineers were headed, lay approximately 77 kilometers distant. The report also highlighted that the CCTV cameras were installed in all the buses of the Chinese convoy.

Prior to this attack, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) had claimed the arrest of over 10 terrorists and their accomplices associated with the assault. Dasu has been a target for such attacks before. In 2021, a bus bombing claimed the lives of 13 individuals, including nine Chinese nationals, in the same area.