Govt to pay $2.5m compensation to Chinese nationals’ heirs killed in Besham attack

The federal government has decided to pay approximately $2.5 million in compensation to the families of five Chinese nationals who were killed in a terror attack near Besham, Swat in March.

According to sources, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has instructed the relevant authorities to expeditiously settle the compensatory payments owed to Chinese victims of the Besham tragedy.

Sharif is expected to visit Beijing next month with the aim of advancing cooperation in all domains and initiating the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The Chinese government demanded a comprehensive investigation into the terrorist attack that killed nine people on a bus transporting its nationals who were working on the Dasu hydropower project. It also demanded that its citizens be given absolute security in the wake of the attack.

The Pakistani government vehemently denounced the horrific act of terrorism and assured China that it would take all necessary steps to prosecute the perpetrators and anyone who assisted them.

Later on, it was claimed by Islamabad that terrorists came from Afghanistan. Some arrests have also been made in this regard.

Read More: PM Shehbaz directs JIT probe into Besham terror attack

The Besham terrorist incident, which took six lives, including five Chinese nationals, was described by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) as a “conscious effort” to sow strife between Pakistan and its strategic friends and partners, most notably China.

The government has sacked a few security and Police officials for their failure to provide the required security to the bus carrying Chinese nationals.

Earlier this month, ISPR spokesperson Major General Ahmed Sharif said at a press conference that a suicide bomb attack in March in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Besham, that killed five Chinese engineers, was planned in neighboring Afghanistan, and that the bomber was an Afghan national. However, the Taliban Defence Ministry rejected Pakistan’s claim that Afghans were involved in an attack on Chinese engineers.

In January 2022, Pakistan paid $11.6 million to 36 Chinese nationals (dead and injured) in a terror attack on the Dasu hydropower project.

Read More: Five Chinese nationals killed in suicide attack near Besham