Pakistan’s Finance Ministry has announced that they will be compensating the families of Chinese nationals who lost their lives in a suicide bombing attack back in March, with a total of 2.58 million US dollars being allocated for this purpose, averaging around 520,000 US dollars per person.
On March 26, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwestern Pakistan, a suicide bomber driving a car filled with explosives rammed into a convoy, resulting in the deaths of five Chinese workers and their Pakistani driver.
The Chinese workers were en route to the Dasu Dam hydroelectric power station, a project funded by the Chinese government under the Belt and Road Initiative. The terrorist attack took place in Bisham, Shangla District, about a four-hour drive north of the capital Islamabad.
Pakistan’s top economic management body, the Economic Coordination Committee, approved the compensation of 2.58 million US dollars for the families of the Chinese victims of the March terrorist attack on Thursday, May 23, with an average of 51.6 million US dollars per person (approximately 3.7 million RMB).
Furthermore, the families of the Pakistani driver who lost his life in the incident will also receive compensation of 8,950 US dollars.
Pakistan has confirmed that the attacker was an Afghan national and claimed that the attack was planned in Afghanistan.
However, Afghanistan has denied any involvement in the attack.
Currently, thousands of Chinese nationals are involved in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, a massive energy and infrastructure initiative under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
In recent years, foreign workers have been targeted by armed groups who view the project as part of Pakistan’s exploitation of the rich mineral resources in the Balochistan province.
Despite this, no organization has claimed responsibility for the March attack that occurred far from Balochistan province.
In 2021, a bus carrying workers to the same hydroelectric project was attacked, resulting in the deaths of 13 individuals, including at least 9 Chinese citizens. Pakistan also compensated their families.
Two Islamic militants accused of the attack were sentenced to death.