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VIRAL: Photos Of ‘Chinese Workers Carrying AK-Assault Rifles In Pakistan’ Take Internet By Storm

Days after the Pakistan bus explosion that killed nine Chinese engineers and workers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, photos of “Chinese workers” carrying AK assault rifles are doing the rounds on the internet.

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Several media outlets have published the photos linking them to the “rising mistrust” between China and Pakistan.

The bus explosion, which has been called a “terrorist attack” by China, is also seen as Pakistan’s failure in providing adequate security to Chinese nationals working on multiple projects in the country.

The two viral photos show two Asian men, speculated to be Chinese nationals, in casual clothing carrying surveying equipment that is used at construction sites.




Chinese-workers-AK
The images, that have gone viral on the internet. (via Twitter)

Citing the AK-47 rifles carried on the shoulders of the two men in the picture, media reports, and social media posts claim that the Chinese workers have started carrying guns for their own security in the wake of the bus explosion.

Meanwhile, China’s Foreign Ministry said on July 23, “Bodies of nine Chinese personnel killed in a Pakistan terrorist attack returned to the motherland on a chartered plane on Friday.”

After an initial altercation between China and Pakistan on the nature of the attack, Islamabad confirmed the blast to be an “act of terror”, despite no group claiming responsibility yet.

Speculating the role of Pakistani Taliban and Balochistan separatists in the incident, Chinese analysts also did not rule out the possibility of a “third-party”, without mentioning any country, as Eurasian Times reported.

China-Pakistan ‘Tussle’

The $50-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has caused distrust among people in Pakistan’s resource-rich Balochistan, who see it as an act of “Chinese neo-colonialism”. The agitations have been particularly violent in the southern province, where the strategic Gwadar port, a significant part of CPEC, is located.

The ethnic Balochs allege forceful land-grab and suppression by the Pakistani authorities and a local separatist movement has gained momentum. The situation became so complex that Pakistan had to raise two Special Security Divisions (SSDs) to protect the project sites and Chinese nationals from violent attacks.



Barbwire fencing has been erected in the Gwadar port city in view of extremist attacks. (via Twitter)

The 34 Light Division was created in September 2016 comprising 9,000 Pakistan Army soldiers and 6,000 para-military forces personnel. Another unit, the 44 Light Division with 15,000 personnel, was created in 2020 in the aftermath of a terror attack on a luxury hotel in Balochistan, claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).


While Pakistan claims to have invested close to USD$6 million in raising the special units, China is pumping in a huge sum to create, train, and equip those forces. Despite such efforts, the attacks by extremist groups have continued.

In June 2020, the BLA attacked the Pakistan Stock Exchange in Karachi where a number of Chinese companies involved in the CPEC project are based.

Some reports suggest a tug-of-war between Chinese nationals and SSD officers given how the Chinese workers and engineers, wherever they work within Pakistan, are guarded 24×7 by armed guards.

“This has led to a number of near-riot situations where fistfights have turned ugly, given how Pakistan’s troubles have been the result of Chinese involvement in its internal affairs,” as reported by Economic Times.

Officers of SSD have been implicated in various embezzlement schemes of Chinese money, the report said.

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