A suspected female suicide bomber killed three Chinese teachers in Karachi on Tuesday, police and officials said, drawing strong condemnation from Beijing, in the first major attack this year against nationals of long-time ally China working in Pakistan.
The three were among passengers on a minibus returning to Karachi university after a lunch break when the bomb exploded at the entrance to the university’s Confucius Institute, killing the Chinese teachers and a Pakistani national, police and officials said.
A separatist group, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) based in southwestern Balochistan province bordering Afghanistan and Iran, claimed responsibility for the blast, adding in an email to Reuters the attack was carried out by a woman suicide bomber.
It shared in the email a photo of her clad in a long shawl sitting with two children. The photo could not be verified independently by police or other officials.
Karachi police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon said of the victims: “The reports we have got say they’re Chinese.”
He added they were teachers at the Confucius Institute, a Chinese language and cultural centre.
