Daily Times

China has strongly condemned the recent terrorist attacks in Balochistan and expressed deep condolences to the victims, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian, responding to a question at a daily press briefing, stated, “China firmly opposes all forms of terrorism and will continue to firmly support Pakistan in advancing counter-terrorism operations, maintaining social unity and stability, and protecting people’s safety.”

The attacks, which occurred on Sunday night, saw terrorists targeting Pakistani security forces and police across multiple locations in Balochistan. The assailants stopped vehicles, killed innocent civilians, and destroyed infrastructure, including roads and railways.

“China is willing to further strengthen counter-terrorism and security cooperation with Pakistan to jointly safeguard regional peace and security,” Lin added.

Separately, a truck driver, who rescuers initially thought was dead, was recovering on Tuesday after hospital staff receiving bodies realized he was alive despite being shot five times in one of the most widespread attacks in Balochistan by ethnic militants in years.

On Monday, Munir Ahmed was driving with three colleagues in a convoy of four trucks through the southern province of Balochistan.

The drivers did not notice anything amiss and had not heard of any violence until they were about an hour outside of the provincial capital, Quetta.

Suddenly, armed men crowded the dusty stretch of highway, waving at them to stop, ordering the drivers out of their trucks and lining them up on the roadside.

Ahmed, 50, began to recite Islamic verses in fear.

“We were all horrified,” he said.

The gunmen opened fire and threw the men’s bodies into a stream, leaving them for dead.

Rescuers put Ahmed and the lifeless bodies of his three colleagues into a vehicle to take to hospital, where medical staff realized he had survived.

A nurse said he had been hit by five bullets in the arm and back but was in stable condition.

Lying flat in a hospital bed, far from home in Punjab with his arm heavily bandaged, Ahmed said his memory of the attack was hazy and he was upset by his colleagues’ deaths, uncertain what would happen next after such a violent disruption to his livelihood.