Karachi: A Chinese national working with a shipping company in Pakistan was shot dead by a group of unidentified men in the port city of Karachi on Monday. According to police, the suspects, travelling in a car, opened fire at 46-year-old Chen Zhu’s car in the city’s Clifton area. The victim was the managing director of Cosco Shipping Lines Co, a Chinese shipping company.
“It was a targeted attack as he was shot after being followed by armed assailants,” police said, adding that 30-year-old Hassan Abbas, a passerby, was also shot in the leg. Police recovered nine bullet casings from the crime scene.
Initially, police had said that Chen was alone in the car but later police said that another Chinese national was with him. “The second Chinese citizen managed to escape. We are looking for him,” police said.
Chen was rushed hospital in a critical condition. “He was shot in the head and died during treatment,” a doctor said. The targeted killing comes nearly two months after China had put its citizens in Pakistan on high alert after receiving intelligence reports about the possibility of attacks targeting them. On its official website, the Chinese embassy in Islamabad had posted in December that it had information about a “series of terror attacks” planned against Chinese organisations and personnel. It did not give further details but urged its citizens to avoid crowded places.
Thousands of Chinese workers are employed in the development of nearly $60 billion worth of infrastructure projects under Beijing’s “Belt and Road” initiative. The port and road-building projects have been frequently attacked in Balochistan, Pakistan’s restive south-western province.
Last year, two Chinese nationals were killed after being abducted by Islamic State militants from Balochistan’s capital Quetta. Pakistan had promised Beijing it will deploy troops to secure the China-Pakistan Economic Corridorin the country.
