KARACHI: Three terrorists, including the key figure behind the November 2024 attack on Chinese engineers in Karachi, were killed during a counterterrorism operation in the city’s Manghopir area, officials confirmed on Monday.
The operation was conducted jointly by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and intelligence agencies. According to Additional Inspector General of Police (CTD) Azad Khan, the slain mastermind was identified as Zafran. Two of his accomplices were also killed in the raid.
Senior CTD official Raja Umer Khattab stated that the terrorists belonged to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and were neutralized during a targeted raid on a house in Manghopir.
The trio was linked to a November 5, 2024, attack in which two Chinese nationals were injured after being shot by a private security guard at a textile mill in Karachi’s SITE area. Initially described as a personal dispute, the incident later raised suspicions of a targeted assault. A first information report (FIR) was registered against the absconding security guard, while three other guards and a supervisor were detained for questioning.
At the time, the Foreign Office reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to the safety and security of Chinese nationals and projects, emphasizing that the matter was under thorough investigation.
The incident was one of several targeting Chinese nationals in Pakistan in recent years. A 2024 report by the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) noted that since 2021, at least 20 Chinese citizens have been killed and 34 injured in terrorist attacks across the country.
In March 2024, five Chinese workers were killed in Besham, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in an attack believed to have been carried out by TTP or IS-K affiliates. In October 2024, a suicide bombing near Karachi Airport claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) left two Chinese citizens dead and ten injured. Additionally, the 2022 suicide bombing outside the University of Karachi’s Confucius Institute killed three Chinese nationals.
These repeated attacks have heightened China’s security concerns, particularly regarding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects. In October 2024, Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong called the ongoing violence “unacceptable” and urged Pakistan to take stronger action to protect Chinese nationals and crack down on anti-China elements.
In response, former Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch termed the statement “perplexing” and a departure from established diplomatic norms between the two countries.
