Karachi. An explosion near the international airport of the southern Pakistani city of Karachi has killed two Chinese nationals and injured several others, officials from both countries said.
Police and the provincial government said a tanker exploded outside the airport, which is Pakistan’s biggest, on Sunday night. The nature of the blast was not immediately clear, the local broadcaster Geo News cited a provincial official as saying.
In a statement emailed to journalists, the separatist militant group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed the explosion was an attack carried out by them using a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device targeting “a high-level convoy of Chinese engineers and investors” coming from Karachi’s airport.
The Chinese embassy in Pakistan said a convoy carrying Chinese staff of the Port Qasim Electric Power Company had been attacked at around 11pm. It condemned what it said was a “terrorist attack”, and urged a thorough investigation to punish the perpetrators.
“The Chinese Embassy and Consulates General in Pakistan strongly condemn this terrorist attack, express deep condolences to the innocent victims of both countries and sincere sympathies to the injured and (their) families,” it said in a statement. 
Videos showed flames engulfing cars and a thick column of smoke rising from the scene. There was a heavy military deployment at the site, which was cordoned off.- AP
