Beijing, Jul 6 (PTI) China on Wednesday asked Pakistan to "get to the bottom" of the April suicide attack that killed three Chinese nationals at the Karachi University, a day after authorities in Sindh province claimed to have arrested the mastermind and pointed finger at an unnamed "neighbouring country".

A burqa-clad woman suicide bomber from the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) on April 26 blew herself near a van carrying Chinese nationals outside Karachi University's Confucius Institute. Three Chinese nationals and their local driver were killed in the incident.

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The attack sent shock waves in China as it involved for the first time a woman suicide bomber of the BLA, which is opposed to Chinese investment in Balochistan province.

Pakistani security agencies on Tuesday claimed to have arrested the mastermind of the attack. Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon has said that the bombing was a joint plan by the BLA and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), in which a "neighbouring country" had played a role. He, however, did not name the country.

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Asked about Pakistan's claims, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian at a media briefing reacted guardedly, saying China is closely following the probe.

“China is closely following Pakistan's investigation into the terrorist attack at the Confucius Institute of the University of Karachi. We appreciate the strong efforts made by the Pakistani side,” Zhao said.

“At the same time, further investigation is still underway. We hope the Pakistani side will get to the bottom of this attack, bring the perpetrators to justice, take down the terrorist organisations involved in the attack and ensure the safety of Chinese projects, personnel and institutions in Pakistan,” he said.

China will also firmly support Pakistan's efforts on counterterrorism to provide an even safer environment for China-Pakistan cooperation, Zhao said.

Pakistan has identified the attack mastermind as Dad Bakhsh alias Shoaib and said he was arrested from Mauripur Road, Hawkesbay.

Pakistan's claims came in the backdrop of the June 30 visit of Yang Jiechi, the director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), during which he was reported to have pressed for Chinese firms to take over the security of thousands of workers from China employed in dozens of USD 60 billion CPEC projects.

Ahead of the visit of Yang, who is ranked higher than Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao parried questions over a media report that Pakistan was reluctant to accede to Beijing's request to permit its security firm to protect the Chinese workers and assets after the recent spike in terrorist attacks against them.

“I am not aware of the situation you mentioned,” Zhao said when asked to confirm a media report stating that the Chinese Ministry of State Security had asked Pakistan in June to allow a Chinese security company to operate in Pakistan to guard its citizens and assets for Pakistan's Interior Ministry has objected stating that its security forces are able to protect Chinese nationals and assets.

During his visit, Yang had a lengthy meeting with Pakistan's Army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa.

A report by Pakistan daily Dawn about Yang's visit has said that the all-weather ties “currently appear under deep stress because of growing terrorist attacks on Chinese citizens”.

“Beijing is particularly concerned about the lack of progress in the prosecution of the April 26 attack. It is said that neither the mastermind nor other major actors involved in the attack have been apprehended,” the report said.

“The Chinese had demanded permission for deployment of private Chinese security guards for the protection of Chinese personnel and installations. Though Pakistani authorities did not allow that, the issue remains very much on the table,” it said.

Pakistan in recent months has been witnessing a spate of attacks against Chinese workers employed in projects under the CPEC.

While BLA is opposed to the Chinese presence in Balochistan, Pakistan's militant outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) too was blamed for some of the attacks.

Pakistan has raised a separate military force to protect the Chinese workers but Beijing is increasingly getting restive over the recurring attacks resulting in heavy casualties.

In July last year, masked armed men on a motorcycle opened fire on a vehicle carrying two Chinese nationals in Karachi in which one of them was critically wounded.

In the same month, nearly a dozen Chinese engineers were killed when a bus carrying construction workers was "attacked" in northwest Pakistan.

In November 2018, Baloch militants had attacked the Chinese consulate in Karachi but failed to break through the security barrier with three of them killed on the spot.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)