Police on Wednesday registered a case against a security guard who shot at and injured two Chinese nationals a day earlier.

According to a statement by the Sindh Home Department, a clash broke out between Chinese nationals and security guards at a police station in Karachi’s Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE) Area. During the clash, a security guard fired at two Chinese nationals, injuring them.

Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar instructed authorities to arrest the security guard involved in the incident. He had also sought details from the South deputy inspector general, stating that facts of the incident must be confirmed with a comprehensive inquiry.

According to a first information report (FIR) filed late on Tuesday night, the complainant Najeebul Rab said he worked as a security in charge at at textile mill.

He said that he, along with four Chinese nationals accompanied by police and private guards, arrived at the mill in Site Area at around 8:02am, the FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, said.

“The foreigners went to the first floor of the factory to the Knits department for the installation of new machinery,” it said.

“The foreigners were busy with their work when at 8:15am, the guard, namely Sharifullah, son of Habibullah, belonging to the Executive security company who had been working in the factory for the last four to five months, went to the first floor.

“The suspect, using his 9mm pistol, resorted to firing at the Chinese nationals for some unknown reasons to kill them.”

According to the FIR, the guard resorted to indiscriminate firing, resulting in critical injuries to Zheng Luwen and Wang Xingzhong, who were shifted to Liaquat National Hospital in the factory’s ambulance while the suspect managed to escape along with the pistol.

The police arrived at the spot and collected 16 spent bullet casings fired from a 9mm pistol, it said.

The complainant added in the FIR that the suspect’s firing inside the factory also triggered fear and terror among other employees, therefore, he wanted a case against the fleeing suspect over charges of making an attempt on the life of the Chinese and creating an atmosphere of fear and terror in the factory.

The police have registered the section under sections 324 (attempted murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code and 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) of the anti-terrorism act.

PM condemns attack on visits to Chinese embassy in Karachi

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif visited the Chinese Embassy to condemn the firing incident.

Talking to Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong today, the prime minister said that he was visiting the embassy to condemn yesterday’s attack on Chinese nationals and to inquire about the health of those injured in the incident.

The premier assured the Chinese ambassador that those responsible for the incident would be apprehended soon and an exemplary punishment would be awarded to them, Prime Minister’s Office said in a press release.

He further informed the Chinese ambassador that he was personally supervising the arrest of those involved in the incident and bringing them to justice.

Moreover, he had directed to provide the best medical facilities to the Chinese citizens injured in the incident and that it was a matter of satisfaction that the health of the injured Chinese nationals was improving.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Minister for Interior Mohsin Raza Naqvi and Special Assistant to PM Tariq Fatemi accompanied the premier.

Prime Minister Sharif said that China was a long-standing friend of Pakistan and that the attack on the Chinese nationals was a desperate attempt to damage Pakistan-China fraternal relations, reiterating that the security of Chinese nationals working in Pakistan was the top priority of the government.

The Chinese ambassador thanked the prime minister for his visit and hoped that he would play his role in bringing those responsible for the incident to justice soon.

Attacks on Chinese nationals

Chinese nationals have been targeted inside Pakistan over the last couple of years.

The recent escalation in violence against Chinese nationals has amplified Beijing’s security concerns, especially over progress on China-Pakistan Econo­mic Corridor (CPEC) projects.

Speaking at the event ‘China at 75: A Journey of Progress, Trans­formation and Global Leadership’ last week, the Chinese envoy had expressed frustration over the attacks, stating it was “unacceptable” and urging Islamabad to strengthen security measures for Chinese nationals and crack down on anti-China elements.

Foreign Office Spokes­person Mumtaz Zahra Baloch last week called the statement “perplexing” and a stark departure from the longstanding diplomatic norms between the two nations.

Earlier this month, a suicide attack near Karachi’s airport, claimed by the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), left two Chinese citizens dead and injured ten others.

In March, Chinese workers were targeted in Besham, reportedly carried out by affiliates of either Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), resulting in five Chinese fatalities.

At least four people, including three Chinese nationals, were killed while four others were injured in a suicide attack outside the University of Karachi’s (KU) Confucius Institute in 2022.

Security risk

The involvement of private security in the incident has once again drawn attention towards a host of issues including lack of training of the guards.

A recent letter written by Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Syed Asad Raza to the chairman of the All Pakistan Security Agencies Association (APSA) has highlighted certain aspects of private security guards particularly their lack of training, changing of guards without any intimidation and briefing about foreigners, which were being viewed with concerns.

The letter said that “there are threats to Chinese engineers and nationals working on CPEC [China-Pakistan Economic Corridor], non-CPEC private projects, business partners, employees, visitors and individuals located in Sindh province.”

It has been pointed out that all Chinese working on such government and private projects, visitors and individuals have hired private security guards for their security.

Police, Rangers and Frontier Corps are also providing security to them but ‘few locations are guarded with only private security guards,’ as per the letter.

“It has been observed that private security companies that provide guards for the security of foreigners are not trained which a security risk is,” apprehended the official letter.

Moreover, apart from this, the companies changed the ‘guards without intimidation and guards are not briefed’ regarding the security of foreigners.

The DIG urged the APSA head ‘to engage the companies for verification of security guards from IB and Special Branch.’

“Their training should be done under the supervision of police and security guards should not be changed without intimidation to avoid any untoward incident,” it said.