- Afia Ambreen
On 23 November, a terror attack targeting the Chinese Consulate situated in Karachi’s Clifton area was foiled by security forces, leaving at least seven people dead. The attackers’ evil designs failed to materialize and operation culminated in half an hour or so. About 21 staff members in the Consulate were safe and secure. The attackers, who were armed with SMGs, hand grenades, suicide vests and explosives, tried to enter the consulate from the visa issuance section but they were intercepted by security personnel at the checkpoint. Sindh Police and Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) confirmed that all three terrorists had been killed in the operation. The clearance operation was initially led by a female Police Officer ASP Suhai Talpur, this indicates that our girls and women folks are on the forefront to defeat evil designs of RAW-NDS nexus. Two policemen lost their lives due to multiple injuries caused by explosive material, while a private security guard was injured in the blast. Two civilians, a father and son, named Zahir Shah and Abdul Karim, were also killed in the attack.
Investigators probing a foiled attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi disclosed that the assault was orchestrated by a commander of the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) militant group. According to media reports a security source saying that Aslam alias Achchu, a top BLA commander, had plotted the attack. Sources add that Achchu is currently undergoing medical treatment at Max Hospital in New Delhi, after being injured in an operation by Pakistani security forces near Sibi, Balochistan last year. The operation, which was carried out one-and-a-half year ago, had left several BLA terrorists dead, according to sources. The wounded BLA commander had fled to India. Achchu is one of the key commanders of BLA chief Dr Allah Nazar. He is also blamed for killing of lawyers, police personnel, journalists and doctors.
BLA was set up by the former Soviet Union and was now being supported by the governments of India and Afghanistan. According to sources 4,000 to 5,000 Baloch people were in various camps in Afghanistan and they were being trained there for terrorist activities in Pakistan. Brahumdagh Bugti is one of the founders of the BLA. BLA is an Indian proxy against Pakistan and Indian consulates in Kandahar and Jalalabad, Afghanistan, for providing arms, training and financial aid to the BLA in an attempt to destabilize Pakistan. As the Pakistan Army is busy conducting targeted operations against the terrorists and miscreants in connection with the Operation Radd-ul Fasaad and the arrest of Indian Navy officer Kulbushan Jadev’s for his sabotage activities in Balochistan, India has yet not stopped creating rifts and continuing its nefarious designs to spread anarchy in Balochistan and to subvert the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Ironically, India also condemned the attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi, saying there was no justification for such violence. But Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself endorsed the instability in Balochistan quite openly. In reality there is no issue of any separatist movement in Balochistan as there does not exist anything like this on ground. The only issue in Balochistan is a few RAW funded militants, trying to create anti Pakistan environment in the region. But its magnitude is too low enough to create enough resistance from within the locals. Moreover, the level of training, tactics, weapon and equipment with militants in tribal areas and Balochistan illustrates that they are getting support from anti Pakistan elements.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has condemned the attack, terming it as a conspiracy against relations between the two countries. In a statement, the prime minister ordered an immediate inquiry of the attack. According to the prime minister, “the failed attack on the Chinese Consulate was clearly a reaction to unprecedented trade agreements that resulted from our China trip.” He stressed that the attack was intended to scare Chinese investors and undermine CPEC. “These terrorists will not succeed.” Karachi, reportedly has number of sleeping cells being operated by RAW, NDS and even CIA. One has to evoke as to who could be the prime beneficiary of such an action against the Chinese in Pakistan especially in the backdrop of PM Khan’s successful visit to China.
Hence, even before the inception of CPEC, China knew implications of working in turbulent areas like Gwadar or the wider Balochistan. But still, they decided to come and work here. The issue of working in such environment applies as much to CPEC as to the broader Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which goes through some of the riskiest parts of the world. That is why, it is wrong to conclude that the BLA attack will somehow affect the execution of CPEC projects. So, Pakistan and China should remain focused on their economic goals and remain steadfast to meet similar future challenges.
