Pakistan : 5 senior police officers punished after a suicide bombing that killed Chinese workers

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered the punishment of five senior police officials for negligence following a suicide bombing that killed five Chinese engineers working at the construction site of a major dam. 

The attack that occurred in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa forced the companies "Power China" and "China Gejoba Group" to suspend work on two dam construction projects, following the attack that claimed the lives of the five Chinese and their Pakistani driver.

Hundreds of Chinese work in the two workshops in Dasu and Daimarpasa, which are 100 kilometers away from each other in the mountainous region.

Information Minister Atallah Tarar said that a committee appointed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif accused a regional official, three local officials, and the security director of the Dassault Dam project of “negligence” in performing their duties.

Tarar confirmed in a press conference in Lahore that “the Prime Minister ordered immediate measures to be taken against these officials,” without specifying that punishment.

Shahbaz Sharif “will personally monitor the security of the Chinese (citizens). As for those who are neglected, they will be an example for others to learn from,” according to Tarar.

Pakistani police arrested more than a dozen people, including Afghan citizens, in connection with the bombing.

Beijing is Islamabad's closest regional ally, and often provides financial aid to support its neighbor, which often faces difficulties, and pumps more than two trillion dollars into infrastructure projects.

However, Pakistanis complain that they do not get a fair share of the jobs or revenues generated from the projects. 

Last week's attack occurred just days after gunmen attempted to storm the offices of the port of Gwadar in the southwest of the country, which is considered one of the pillars of Chinese investment in Pakistan.