Karachi University blast carried out by first female suicide bomber of Baloch Liberation Army

The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for the explosion in the University of Karachi premises, in which four people, including three Chinese nationals, were killed on Tuesday.

In a statement, the Balochistan-based militant outfit said "Majeed Brigade of Baloch Liberation Army accepts responsibility for today's self-sacrificing attack on Chinese in Karachi."

The statement said the "mission" was carried out by its first female suicide bomber Shari Baloch alias Bramsh, and called this a "new chapter in Baloch resistance history."

The blast occurred in a van near China-built Confucius Institute - a non-profit institute teaching Chinese language to local pupils. Videos of the blast-hit van were posted on social media with flames of fire completely destroying the vehicle as police and paramilitary rangers reached the scene immediately and cordoned off the areas.

A spokesperson for the university said three of the victims were Chinese nationals. They were identified as Confucius Institute director Huang Guiping, Ding Mupeng, Chen Sa and Khalid, the Pakistani driver.

This is not the first time Chinese nationals have been the target of terror attacks in Karachi, which is Pakistan's biggest city and economic hub.

In July last year, masked armed men on a motorcycle opened fire on a vehicle carrying two Chinese nationals in an industrial area of 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" near a dam project in northwest Pakistan's mountainous region.

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

Thousands of Chinese personnel are working in Pakistan on a host of projects being carried out under the aegis of the CPEC.

—With PTI inputs