How China can prevent terrorist attacks in Balochistan

Beijing should support provincial rights in Pakistan for smoother CPEC implementation

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A student lays a bouquet in memory of her Chinese teachers, near the wreckage of a passenger van after a blast, during what they call a peaceful protest, outside the Confucius Institute at University of Karachi, in Pakistan. © Reuters

Salman Rafi Sheikh is assistant professor of politics at the Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Lahore University of Management Sciences.

On Oct. 6, two Chinese nationals working for a Karachi-based power company were killed near the city's airport in a terrorist attack claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group seeking independence for Balochistan. In 2022, three Chinese teachers were killed in Karachi -- the largest city in Pakistan -- in a suicide bombing carried out by a female member of the BLA's Majeed Brigade. The rise in such attacks indicates that Baloch militants have expanded their operational capabilities, enabling them to conduct sophisticated assaults against Chinese interests far beyond Balochistan.

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