At least one person was killed and 10 injured in an explosion near the international airport of the southern Pakistani city of Karachi on Sunday night, local broadcaster Geo News reported.
The nature of the blast was not immediately clear, Geo News cited a provincial official as saying. He said at least one foreigner had been injured and that a convoy of foreigners was close to the explosion.
In a statement emailed to journalists, separatist militant group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed the explosion was an attack carried out by them using a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device targeting Chinese nationals, including engineers.
Karachi police did not immediately respond to request for comment.
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The BLA seeks independence for the province of Balochistan, located in Pakistan’s southwest and bordering on Afghanistan and Iran. In August, it launched co-ordinated attacks in the province, in which more than 70 people were killed.
BLA specifically targets Chinese interests – in particular the strategic port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea, accusing Beijing of helping Islamabad exploit the province. It has killed Chinese citizens working in the region and attacked Beijing’s consulate in Karachi.
Thousands of Chinese workers are in Pakistan, most of them involved in Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative that connects south and central Asia with the Chinese capital.
Videos showed flames engulfing cars and a thick column of smoke rising from the scene. There was a heavy military deployment at the site, which was cordoned off.
Police surgeon Dr Sumayya Tariq said one of the casualties was in a critical condition and that four of them were security guards.
Rahat Hussain, who works in the civil aviation department, said the blast was so big that it shook the airport’s buildings. – Reuters/AP
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