Taliban militants plan to target Chinese nationals working on development projects in northwest Pakistan, according to an alert issued by a federal government organisation.
The militants have plans to target Chinese workers in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province and the adjoining Federally Administered Tribal Areas, the Nation daily quoted a communiqué from the National Crisis Management Centre as saying.
Law enforcement agencies too have informed the government about possible terrorist attacks on Chinese nationals. The federal interior ministry has directed authorities to put in place strict security measures for foreigners working in Pakistan.
The National Crisis Management Centre has alerted the interior department of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the additional chief secretary of the tribal areas and the heads of the Frontier Constabulary and Frontier Corps about possible attacks on Chinese citizens.
The cell directed authorities to put in place extra security measures. Following this, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government decided to depute extra police and paramilitary personnel at sites of development projects to protect Chinese engineers and other workers.
The commissioners and deputy inspector generals of police of all seven divisions of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have been directed to frame a security plan for Chinese nationals. Chinese engineers and workers working on key projects like dams were targeted by Taliban militants in the past.
Chinese nationals working in Beijing-aided projects have been attacked by gunmen in Pakistan's troubled south-western province of Balochistan. Three Chinese engineers were killed by gunmen in Balochistan in 2006.