Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) on Tuesday issued a lethal warning to China, demanding Beijing vacate the Gwadar Port in Pakistan. The admonition comes shortly after the Baloch rebel group claimed responsibility for the suicide attack on Karachi University campus. At least three Chinese nationals were killed in the blast.
The Afghanistan-based militant group said via a pre-recorded video message, “The motive of our attack was very clear. It was a clear message to China and Pakistan to withdraw immediately from Balochistan.”
“This warning was previously conveyed by our leader General Aslam Baloch to China, but China failed to pay heed. We will thus make it clear once again that Gwadar and the rest of the rest of Balochistan belong to Baloch and it is our duty to protect our land and sea. Our operation is a continuity of what was initiated to safeguard the Baloch sea from China, Pakistan, and other foreign powers,” they added.
The rebel forces also warned that they will ramp up attacks in the areas where Chinese projects are underway. “China, you came here without our consent supported our enemies, helped the Pakistani military in wiping off our villages, but now it’s our time,” the militant group leader added.
BLA also guaranteed to dismantle the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is a major extension of the multi-billion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The BLA sees the CPEC as propaganda to colonise and exploit the energy and mineral region in Balochistan.
The developments in Gwadar had led to an increase in insurgent attacks in recent years. BLA claimed to kill over 100 Pakistani soldiers in two simultaneous fatal strikes on February 2, in a symbolic repercussion of ex-PM Imran Khan’s visit to China. In the latest, BLA claimed responsibility for the suicide attack outside the University of Karachi.
3 Chinese nationals killed in Karachi University attack
At least four people were killed on Tuesday in the blast claimed to be carried out by the BLA. Three out of the four were Chinese nationals from the university. According to video footage assessed by the Dawn, a burqa-clad woman detonated herself as a van carrying staff members approached the entrance of the institute.
Two Chinese faculties of the university were also reportedly injured in what seems like a targeted attack carried out by the militant outfit. Pakistan Foreign Office said that the “cowardly attack was directed at the Pakistan-China friendship and ongoing cooperation.”