ISLAMABAD: A high-level security meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif audited the security measures provided for foreign nationals, especially Chinese.
Following Tuesday’s attack on Chinese engineers in Shangla, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a high-level security meeting to review and strengthen security measures for foreigners, with a special focus on Chinese residents in Pakistan.
The meeting also reviewed the overall security situation in the country. The agenda primarily focused on conducting a comprehensive security check on Chinese nationals employed on various projects across Pakistan.
The meeting was attended by heads of security agencies along with federal ministers, inspectors general of police and other relevant authorities.
Sources said the attack on Chinese citizens was strongly condemned at the meeting, while political leadership and security officials reiterated their commitment to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens.
The participants of the meeting also vowed to deal with the terrorists with iron hands. “The enemies of the country will be driven out everywhere,” they agreed at the meeting.
Prime Minister Sharif told the meeting that the entire nation sympathized with the families of the slain Chinese citizens and stressed that Pakistan would soon investigate the incident at a high level.
“Those responsible and their facilitators will be severely punished. Any tactic that harms Pakistan-China friendship will not succeed,” Shehbaz remarked, adding that enemies can never succeed in their evil intentions.
“The war against terrorism will continue until the end of the scourge,” the prime minister promised.
Sources from the meeting indicated that security aspects for Chinese nationals working in Pakistan are being thoroughly scrutinized, with particular emphasis on reviewing existing security measures and conducting a detailed security audit.
The Ministry of Interior and security agencies are expected to brief participants on the current security situation in the country with regard to the safety of foreigners, especially Chinese residents.
The high-level meeting comes in the wake of an attack on a convoy of Chinese engineers in Bisham tehsil of Shangla district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday, which killed five foreign nationals and their local driver.
Malakand Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Muhammad Ali claimed that five foreign engineers and their driver were feared to be victims after their car was attacked.
He further said that many people were also injured in the attack. “The attack appears to be a suicide, but an investigation is underway,” the police officer said, adding that the passenger vehicle was traveling from Islamabad to Kohistan.
The officer claimed that the attackers rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into a passenger car, which eventually fell into a ditch.
