A bus attack last month that killed nine Chinese workers was a suicide bombing carried out by militants backed by Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Thursday.
The minister said an investigation showed there was a ‘nexus of Indian RAW and Afghan NDS’ in the attack, referring to India’s and Afghanistan’s intelligence agencies.
The blast hit a bus carrying the Chinese workers on their way to a dam construction site in northern Pakistan.
Qureshi, addressing a news conference in Islamabad together with a top investigator, said Pakistan had data evidence to back the allegation that the intelligence agencies from the two neighbours were involved. He said that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) carried out the attack on July 14 with the backing of the two intelligence agencies. “As per our investigation, the Afghan soil was used for this incident… about its planning and its execution we’re seeing a clear nexus between NDS and RAW,” he said.
“As per our investigation, Afghanistan’s soil was used for this incident. We are clearly looking the traces of its planning and executing meeting with the nexus of NDS and RAW. What do they want? Why did the nexus perpetrated it? We think, there are elements which cannot digest Chinese investment in Pakistan as well as growing economic cooperation,” the foreign minister said, adding that the investigation made it clear that the vehicle used in the attack was smuggled from Afghanistan.
He said the security agencies reached this finding based on the CCTV footages of 36 cameras installed along the 1400-kilometer stretch of the road. Moreover, the evidences including a thumb, a finger and other body parts of the bomber were also examined besides analyzing the mobiles data and questioning of over 1000 workers of project.
He said the investigation teams had identified and tracked the movement of the vehicle used in the attack and had also been able reach out to the handlers. The foreign minister told media that the terrorists’ first target was DiamerBhasha Dam but could not succeed so opted to target the Dasu Dam project.
He was confident to say that the elements behind the terrorist attack would not succeed to achieve their designs as both China and Pakistan decided to face such cowardly attempts. He said Pakistan had shared the details of the probe with China and both the sides resolved that such incidents could not undermine their resolve rather they would emerge stronger. He resolved that the probe will be taken to the point of exposing the perpetrators as well as taking them to task.
He told media that the government had strengthened the security around the development projects with a resolve that the all CPEC projects would continue and also completed timely.
