Pakistani Police Arrest 12 People over a Suicide Bombing that Killed 5 Chinese Workers

File photo: Pakistani security officials stand guard outside a church as members of the Christian minority community attend a Good Friday Mass at St. John's Cathedral Church in Peshawar, Pakistan, 29 March 2024. EPA/ARSHAD ARBAB
File photo: Pakistani security officials stand guard outside a church as members of the Christian minority community attend a Good Friday Mass at St. John's Cathedral Church in Peshawar, Pakistan, 29 March 2024. EPA/ARSHAD ARBAB
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Pakistani Police Arrest 12 People over a Suicide Bombing that Killed 5 Chinese Workers

File photo: Pakistani security officials stand guard outside a church as members of the Christian minority community attend a Good Friday Mass at St. John's Cathedral Church in Peshawar, Pakistan, 29 March 2024. EPA/ARSHAD ARBAB
File photo: Pakistani security officials stand guard outside a church as members of the Christian minority community attend a Good Friday Mass at St. John's Cathedral Church in Peshawar, Pakistan, 29 March 2024. EPA/ARSHAD ARBAB

Pakistani counterterrorism police in multiple raids arrested at least 12 suspects in connection with last week's suicide bombing that killed five Chinese workers and their Pakistani driver in the volatile northwest, officials said Monday.
Those arrested were not directly involved in the attack but they helped orchestrate Tuesday's bombing targeting the Chinese, three police and security officials said. They said some of them had links with Pakistani militants, adding that the suspects were still being questioned and other raids were ongoing.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media on the record. The officials said some of the suspects had transported an explosive-laden car to Shangla, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where a suicide bomber rammed it into another vehicle, killing the Chinese workers.
The bodies of the five Chinese nationals were flown overnight from an air base in the garrison city of Rawalpindi to Beijing, Pakistani officials and state media said.
Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong was present at the Noor Khan air base when the bodies were brought there Sunday night. Zaidong conveyed his deep condolences to the families of the victims. A Pakistani Cabinet minister, Salik Hussain, accompanied the bodies to China.
The slain Chinese were traveling to Pakistan's biggest hydropower project, Dasu Dam, where they worked, when their vehicle came under attack.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Dasu Dam on Monday and met with Chinese employees to assure them of security. Sharif said those responsible for the attack would get “exemplary punishment.” He said the attack was an attempt to harm ties between Pakistan and China.
Chinese and Pakistani investigators are conducting separate probes into the attack, which drew nationwide condemnation. China has also asked Pakistan to ensure the protection of its nationals working in various parts of Pakistan on projects in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Authorities say the Chinese bombing victims were heading to the project site amid tight security.
Other Chinese working on CPEC-related projects have faced similar attacks in recent years.
In July 2021, at least 13 people, including nine Chinese nationals, were killed when a suicide bomber detonated explosives in his vehicle near a bus carrying Chinese and Pakistani engineers and laborers, prompting Chinese companies to temporarily suspend work.



Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
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Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi announced he intends to visit Tehran through a letter he addressed to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iranian Mehr Agency reported that Grossi sent a congratulatory message to the Iranian president-elect, which stated: “I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you on your election win as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“Cooperation between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been at the focal attention of the international circles for many years. I am confident that, together, we will be able to make decisive progress on this crucial matter.”

“To that effect, I wish to express my readiness to travel to Iran to meet with you at the earliest convenience,” Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Grossi as saying.

The meeting – should it take place - will be the first for Pezeshkian, who had pledged during his election campaign to be open to the West to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue.

Last week, American and Israeli officials told the Axios news site that Washington sent a secret warning to Tehran last month regarding its fears of Iranian research and development activities that might be used to produce nuclear weapons.

In May, Grossi expressed his dissatisfaction with the course of the talks he held over two days in Iran in an effort to resolve outstanding matters.

Since the death of the former Iranian president, Ibrahim Raisi, the IAEA chief refrained from raising the Iranian nuclear file, while European sources said that Tehran had asked to “freeze discussions” until the internal situation was arranged and a new president was elected.