A suicide bomber has detonated his explosive-laden vest near a van carrying Japanese autoworkers in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi, police said, injuring three bystanders.
The van was heading to an industrial area where the five Japanese nationals work at Pakistan Suzuki Motors, according to local police chief Arshad Awan.
The Japanese nationals escaped unhurt on Friday, Aswan said, adding that the three people wounded were in stable condition in hospital.
Two security guards were travelling in the bullet-proof van after receiving reports about possible attacks on foreigners working in Pakistan on various Chinese-funded and other projects.
Police said a suicide bomber on a motorcycle set off his vest, while another assailant was shot dead by police patrolling the area.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the assault in Karachi, the country’s largest city and the capital of the southern province of Sindh.
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced the attack on the Japanese workers.
Armed groups have in the past targeted Chinese nationals working in Pakistan on projects relating to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). China is one
Pakistan’s closest allies and has invested $62bn in the CPEC infrastructure project that spans a series of highways linking southwestern China to Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea.