Terror attack in Karachi: Baloch Liberation Army’s first female suicide bomber Shari Baloch blows up a vehicle

The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has taken involvement in the explosion on Tuesday at the University of Karachi, which killed four persons, three of them were Chinese nationals. In a statement, the Balochistan-based militant outfit said “Majeed Brigade of Baloch Liberation Army accepts responsibility for today’s self-sacrificing attack on Chinese in Karachi.” The statement said the “mission” was carried out by its first female suicide bomber Shari Baloch alias Bramsh and called this a “new chapter in Baloch resistance history.”

 

CCTV footage of the suicide bomber has been obtained, showing Shari Baloch, the lady who has been identified as the bomber, blowing herself up as the van passes by. The woman may be seen standing on a street corner when a white vehicle carrying officials from the Chinese Confucius Institute was bombed. Huang Guiping, the director of the Confucius Institute, as well as two other Chinese residents, Ding Mupeng and Chen Sa, and their local driver Khalid, were killed.

According to the first reports, the explosion happened at 2:30 p.m. The vehicle was turning towards the Confucius Institute when the explosion occurred, according to the Dawn. While rescuers suspected that the incident was caused by a cylinder explosion, Karachi Police Chief Ghulam Nabi Memon’s prediction that it was a suicide bombing carried out by a burqa-clad woman came true.

Following the attack, the BLA released a statement identifying the bomber as Shari Baluch or Bramsh and claiming she was the group’s first female bomber. She’s wearing military fatigues and a cap, and she’s grinning widely and raising two fingers. This isn’t the first time Chinese citizens have been targeted in a country known for its shaky security system. Furthermore, Balochistan has long been a boiling cauldron, with its residents engaged in a continuous insurgency against Pakistan, accusing Islamabad of forcibly taking their land and suppressing their opposition with repression.

Baloch separatists have long-held grudges against profitable mining and energy projects in the region, claiming that residents are being forced off their land because they do not see the benefits. The suicide bombing on Tuesday, according to Pakistan’s foreign ministry, was a direct strike on Pakistan-China friendship and collaboration. In a statement that states Pakistan attaches great importance to safety and security of Chinese nationals projects and institutions in Pakistan.”