Group of Chinese nationals escape terrorist attack in Karachi

A group of Chinese nationals narrowly escaped a terror attack in this southern Pakistani city on Tuesday when unknown assailants fixed a magnetic explosive device to their vehicle in the upmarket Clifton area, police said.

According to senior police officials, the Chinese nationals were travelling in a van when they noticed two men on a motorcycle attach something to the vehicle near the Bilawal roundabout.

‘They stopped the vehicle immediately on the side of the road and called the police helpline,’ SSP Zubair Nazeer Sheikh told the media.

He said the bomb disposal squad arrived at the scene and removed the device which was set off by a remote control by the assailants from some distance away.

‘They set off the magnetic explosive device but due to some fault it didn’t go off and the bomb disposal squad managed to remove it safely,’ he said.

He confirmed the magnetic device contained around one kilogram of explosive material.

The police official said that the Chinese nationals were workers at a Chinese restaurant near Bilawal house and they were going to the market when the incident occurred.

Sheikh said the police were already on high alert after receiving intelligence tips that militant outfits might attempt to target Chinese nationals in the city.

This is perhaps the first time in Karachi that terrorists have used the modus operandi of attaching a magnetic explosive device to a moving vehicle.

Source: Yahoo News