Two children killed in suicide bombing targeting Chinese nationals in Pakistan

Islamabad currently reviewing security of Chinese workers in the country

A Pakistani security guard stands near the the Beijing-funded 'megaport' of Gwadar in south-western Pakistan. AFP

A suicide bombing aimed at a vehicle carrying Chinese nationals in south-western Pakistan killed two children and wounded three on Friday, police said.

The suicide blast occurred at the East Bay Road in the port of Gwadar around 7pm. The Chinese nationals sustained minor injuries, a police statement said.

Gwadar is in the province of Balochistan, where separatist militants have waged a long-running insurgency.

“Two children have been killed and three injured in the attack,” said Liaquat Shahwani, a spokesman for the Balochistan government.

The Balochistan Liberation Army, a separatist militant organisation, claimed responsibility for the attack.

“BLA carried out a 'self-sacrificing' attack against a convoy of Chinese engineers,” the group announced.

China is involved in the development of the Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea as part of a $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is itself part of China's Belt and Road infrastructure project.

Pakistan's Interior Ministry said that a young boy ran out of a nearby fishermen's colony and detonated a bomb he was carrying about 15-20 metres from the convoy.

The four vehicles carrying the Chinese nationals had been escorted by soldiers and police.

Pakistan had already begun a comprehensive review of the security of Chinese nationals in the country, the ministry statement added.

In July, an attack on a bus in the north-western province of Khyber-Paktunkhwa killed 13 people, including nine Chinese workers. Two Pakistani soldiers were also killed