The two attacks on opposite sides of the country were likely unconnected, but they underlined the myriad security challenges that Pakistan faces<\/b>
\nISLAMABAD, Pakistan \u2013 A suicide bomber killed at least 30 people at a market in northern Pakistan just hours after gunmen assaulted the Chinese Consulate in the southern city of Karachi, killing four.
The two attacks on opposite sides of the country were likely unconnected, but they underlined the myriad security challenges that Pakistan faces, including those from separatists as well as from the Pakistani Taliban based in the northern border regions.
The attacker in the northern Orakzai district drove a motorcycle into the heart of a weekly market in the town of Kalaya and detonated his explosives, according to Reuters. Local health officials said that at least 30 people were killed in the blast and that more than 50 others were injured, 30 of them seriously. Authorities said most of the victims were minority Shiite Muslims.
Pakistani authorities have long battled militants in these remote regions near the Afghan border. The region has also been marked by tension between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, and the blast was near a Shiite mosque that may have been the target.
Video images from the scene showed volunteers and rescue officials recovering bodies from the weekly Friday market, where people had been buying vegetables, household items and warm clothes when the blast took place.
\u201cThere was a big bang that rocked the whole town. Nothing was clear in the smoke, and there were cries and screams from the market,\u201d said Ashraf Ullah, 42, a local merchant. \u201cMany bodies were unrecognizable from damage by the blast. There were dead bodies all around.\u201d
The blast came hours after police in Karachi foiled a morning assault by three gunmen against the Chinese Consulate. The attack left two police officers, two civilians and the gunmen dead.
The assault took place at about 9 a.m., when the gunmen tried to enter the consulate, located in the city\u2019s upscale Clifton area, but were stopped by police and security guards at the checkpoint, local police officials said.
In addition to the exchange of gunfire, eyewitnesses told Pakistan\u2019s Dawn news channel that they heard an explosion. Footage broadcast on TV showed smoke rising from the Chinese Consulate building.
\u201cThree attackers have been killed in the exchange of fire with our forces,\u201d Amir Shaikh, a senior police official, told journalists on the scene. \u201cAll the Chinese diplomats and other staff at the consulate are safe, and they remained unharmed during the attack.\u201d
Because of the quick response of police and guards, the terrorists could not reach the diplomats, Shaikh said. He added that a search was still underway to determine whether anyone else was involved.
According to Pakistani news channels, a separatist group, the Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA), claimed responsibility for the attack. The group opposes China\u2019s projects in the province and has previously attacked Chinese workers in Baluchistan, a Pakistani province at the center of a megaproject, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The $62 billion port and transportation corridor would connect far western China with the Indian Ocean via Kashmir\u2019s lofty mountain passes.
Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the assault.
\u201cThe failed attack against the Chinese Consulate was clearly a reaction to the unprecedented trade agreements that resulted from our trip to China,\u201d Khan said on Twitter. \u201cThe attack was intended to scare Chinese investors and undermine CPEC. These terrorists will not succeed.\u201d
The attacks in both Karachi and the Orakzai district \u201care part of a planned campaign to create unrest in the country by those who do not want Pakistan to prosper,\u201d Khan added. \u201cLet there be no doubt in anyone\u2019s mind that we will crush the terrorists, whatever it takes.\u201d
Earlier, Khan\u2019s office said in a statement that the Pakistani-Chinese relationship would never be undermined because it is \u201cmightier than Himalaya and deeper than Arabian Sea.\u201d
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang condemned the attack and demanded that \u201cthe Pakistani side take practical measures to protect the safety of Chinese institutions in Pakistan.\u201d
The embassy in Islamabad, meanwhile, stressed the countries\u2019 close ties, saying that \u201cany attempt to undermine the China-Pakistan relationship is doomed to fail.\u201d
Hasan Askari Rizvi, a Lahore-based security analyst, said the attack was aimed at just that. He noted that Chinese nationals have been attacked in the past.
\u201cThe terrorists want to create panic and fear, and an attack on a diplomatic mission creates international headlines,\u201d he said. \u201cSuch attacks show the threat of terror is still very much there, and it\u2019s far from over.\u201d<\/p>\n