KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — A suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vest near a van carrying Japanese auto workers who narrowly escaped the attack that wounded three bystanders in the Pakistani port city of Karachi on Friday, police said .
The van was headed to an industrial area where the five Japanese worked at Pakistan Suzuki Motors, local police chief Arshad Awan said. He said police escorting the Japanese fired back after they were attacked, killing an accomplice of the suicide bomber whose remains were found at the site of the attack.
“All Japanese who were targeted in the attack are safe,” he said.
Images on local news channels showed a damaged van as police officers arrived at the scene of the attack. Awan said the three passersby injured in the attack were in a stable condition at a hospital.
Police escorted the van after receiving reports of possible attacks on foreigners working in Pakistan on various Chinese-funded and other projects, said Tariq Mastoi, a senior police officer. He said a timely and quick response by the guards and police foiled the attack and both attackers were killed.
No one immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on a small separatist group or the Pakistani Taliban, which has stepped up attacks on security forces in recent years. Insurgents have also targeted Chinese working in Pakistan on projects related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which includes a host of mega-projects such as road construction, power plants and agriculture.
In March, five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver were killed when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a vehicle in northwestern Pakistan as they were working on the Dasu Dam, the largest hydropower project in Pakistan.
However, Japanese working in Pakistan have not been the target of such attacks.
Karachi is the largest city in Pakistan and the capital of the southern province of Sindh.
