Bisham attack: Pakistan to pay $2.5m in compensation

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to pay approximately $2.5 million in compensation to the families of five Chinese nationals who were killed in a terror attack near BIsham, Swat in March, Business Recorder reported.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the authorities to expedite the compensation payments to Bisham attack families ahead of his planned visit to Beijing next month, the newspaper reported while quoting sources

At least five Chinese nationals were killed in an explosion when their convoy was attacked by a suicide bomber in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on March 26. The convoy of Chinese engineers was on its way from Islamabad to their camp in Dasu.

Dasu is the site of a major dam and the area has been attacked in the past. A blast on a bus had killed 13 people, including nine Chinese nationals, in 2021.

The Chinese government had demanded a thorough investigation into the deadly attack on a bus carrying its nationals working on the Dasu hydropower project and called for enhanced security measures to protect its citizens in Pakistan.

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Pakistan condemned the “heinous act of terrorism” and promised to bring the perpetrators and their facilitators to justice. It was later claimed that the terrorists had infiltrated from Afghanistan, and some arrests have been made in this regard.

This is not the first time Pakistan has had to pay compensation to the families of Chinese nationals affected by terror attacks. In January 2022, the government paid $11.6 million to 36 Chinese citizens, both dead and injured, in the wake of a previous attack on the Dasu hydropower project.

The upcoming visit by Prime Minister Sharif to China is expected to focus on furthering bilateral cooperation and launching the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.

Earlier this month, the Islamabad Police compiled the data of Chinese residents. A comprehensive report regarding the Chinese population has been sent to the Ministry of Interior, revealing that there are 4,000 Chinese nationals residing in the city.