3 Chinese among five injured in attempted suicide attack in Pakistan

Three Chinese nationals were among the five people who were injured in a suicide attack in southwest Pakistan's restive Balochistan province today, the police said.

The attack, which is said the first since the July 25 elections, took place in Dalbandin region, about 340 kilometres from Quetta - the capital of Balochistan, when the Chinese engineers, working on a mining project were being transported to the city, they said.

The engineers were working on the the Saindak Copper-Gold Mine project, a joint venture between Pakistan and China to extract gold, copper and silver from an area close to the Iranian border.

Hundreds of Chinese nationals are working on different projects in Balochistan under the USD 42 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

A suicide bomber tried to ram a Iran-manufactured pick-up truck into a bus carrying the foreign nationals, who were going to Dalbandin city from the Saindak Copper-Gold Mine project, an official said.

"He used a Zamyad pick-up truck, commonly used to transport oil. The truck was completely destroyed in the attack while the bus also suffered heavy damage," the official said on the condition of anonymity.

Two personnel of the Frontier Constabulary, providing security to the bus, were also injured in the attack.

The injured were rushed to a hospital and security forces have cordoned off the area and initiated an investigation, he said.

Balochistan is the Pakistan's largest province and borders with Iran and Pakistan. It is rich in gas and mineral wealth and people have been complaining about not getting a fair share from the resources.

An ethnic insurgency is going on in Balochistan to attain greater control over the province's abundant mineral resources.