Blast in Karachi University, three Chinese nationals amoung four killed and several injured

A car exploded on the campus of the University of Karachi on Tuesday, killing at least four persons, including two foreign nationals, and injuring several more, according to Pakistani media.

According to initial reports, the blast took place in a van near the Confucius Institute in the university.

According to local media sources, the vehicle was carrying lecturers, including two foreign nationals who had just finished teaching at the university. These were apparently to be from the Chinese language department.

A foreigner, a rangers’ officer, and a private guard were among the injured who were sent to a private hospital in Gulshan-e-Iqbal.

Zhang Xiaoping, the director of the Confucius Institute, was one of the deceased. The other two female Chinese nationals were also members of the same institute’s faculty.

When the incident occurred, the victims were on their way back to the Confucius Institute from the Institute of Business Administration (IBA). The explosion in the vehicle was determined by police to be a terror strike carried out by a burqa-clad female bomber.

Videos from the site showed a white van completely burnt after the explosion, with one side of the vehicle peppered with small holes.

“Clear marks of ball bearings can be seen on the vehicle, which confirms that it was a terror attack. It can also be seen that one side of the van is more damaged, which also signifies that the attack may have been done by a suicide bomber who exploded after reaching close to the vehicle from one side,” said an eye witness.

Karachi police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon said Chinese teachers were the actual target of the explosion. “We are investigating the incident by collecting evidence, but it seems that the Chinese teachers were the actual target of the explosion,” Memon said.

The attack was claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a banned terrorist organisation based in Pakistan's Baluchistan province. The attack was carried out by a female suicide bomber from the Majeed Brigade in Balochistan.

“The mission was carried out by first female fidayee of the Brigade. Fidayee Shari Baloch alias Bramsh added a new chapter in Baloch resistance history,” a press release issued by BLA said.

“Majeed Brigade of Baloch Liberation Army accepts responsibility of today’s self-sacrificing attack on Chinese in Karachi,” the press release said.

This is the first time a female suicide bomber from the BLA has carried out an attack in Pakistan, which has seen a significant increase in terror strikes by a variety of terror groups, including Baloch separatists and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Western powers have questioned and criticised China's growing influence, investments, and presence in Pakistan, and it has been targeted by numerous terror groups in the past.

Police sources said that there were seven to eight people in the van; however, an exact number of casualties has yet to be reported.