US condemns suicide attack on Chinese nationals at Karachi University

WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday condemned the suicide attack targeting Chinese nationals at the University of Karachi.

On April 26, at least four people, including three Chinese tutors, were killed while four others sustained injuries in a suicide explosion outside Confucius Institute at the varsity.

Addressing a press briefing, US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price deplored the terrorist attack in Karachi terming it "a true affront to mankind."

"A terrorist attack anywhere is an affront to humanity everywhere, but for a terrorist attack to take place at a university, or at a religious site, or at some of the locations we’ve seen recently – that is a true affront to mankind," he stated when asked to comment on the suicide attack targeting Chinese citizens.

Ned Price said the US gives great importance to its relations with Pakistan. "When it comes to your question, what I’ll say is that we value our bilateral relationship. We want to continue to work together in areas where we do have mutual interests with our Pakistani partners. That includes counterterrorism. That includes border security as well," the US State Department spokesperson added.

The suicide attack

According to the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), the KU attack was a suicide blast carried out by a burqa-clad woman.

The explosion occurred at 1:52pm outside the Confucius Institute — a Chinese language teaching centre at Karachi University. Following the blast, rescue and security agencies rushed to the location and cordoned off the areas, initiating rescue operations.

The deceased Chinese nationals have been identified as the director of the Confucius Institute Huang Guiping, Ding Mupeng, Chen Sai, and their Pakistani driver, Khalid.

Of the four people who sustained injuries, two have been identified as Chinese national Wang Yuqing and a security guard named Hamid.

A banned outfit had claimed the responsibility for the attack. The security agencies have launched an operation to apprehend those involved in the blast but so far no major success has been achieved. The husband of the female attacker is still at large.