China on Thursday said that the individual killed in Wednesday’s reported attack at a dental clinic in Karachi was not a Chinese citizen.
Responding to a query on the Karachi attack posed at a regular press briefing organised by the Chinese foreign ministry, Spokesperson Wang Wenbin expressed condolences to the victim and expressed sympathy for the injured. The deceased, he said, was not a Chinese citizen.
“We express condolences for the victim and sympathies to the injured. To my knowledge, the victim you mentioned was not a Chinese citizen,” Wenbin said.
An individual, earlier reported as a Chinese citizen, was killed on Wednesday after an unidentified suspect opened fire at a Karachi dental clinic.
Two others were injured in the attack. Karachi police said the suspect entered the premises in the city’s Saddar area presenting himself as a patient. He opened fire after. Karachi South SSP Asad Raza told journalists that one individual had been killed. Two others had been injured. The injured, he said, had been taken to Civil Hospital and Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. The Karachi South SSP said the suspect had fled from the spot.
Police said the attack happened just after 4pm. The suspect was sporting a mask and clad in a blue shirt and trousers. The man, the force said, appeared to be waiting for his turn to undergo a dental procedure when he suddenly opened fire at Richard, Margaret and Ronald. The assailant did not attack others present, according to police.
Those attacked had been running the clinic in the city since long. They had not received any threats. CCTV footage of the incident is being obtained, police said.
Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has taken notice of the incident. A report of the incident has been sought.
Four people, including three Chinese teachers were killed in a Karachi University suicide bombing earlier in April, 2022. Their Pakistani driver was slain in the attack too.
The attack, carried out by the proscribed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), constituted a first given how it had been executed by a woman. A statement released by BLA’s media wing stated that Shari Baloch was a mother of two children and held two master’s degrees. Her husband was a dentist and her father was a director at a governmental organisation. During her student years, she was also involved with the Baloch Students Organization (BSO).
Expressing “strong condemnation and indignation” over the attack, China had demanded Pakistan to thoroughly investigate the incident, apprehend and punish all perpetrators “to the maximum extent of the law”. Pakistan was also urged to take “all possible measures” to ensure security of Chinese citizens and prevent such incidents from happening again.
