After Dasu bus blast in Pakistan, Chinese workers on go-slow over lax security, terrorism fears
- The July suicide bombing killed 14 people, mostly Chinese workers involved in a hydropower project, and they are reportedly worried about another attack
- Growing insurgencies in Pakistan and the Taliban’s march on neighbouring Afghanistan after the US withdrawal are contributing to the atmosphere of fear
One month after a car suicide bomber attacked a convoy headed for a hydropower project in northern Pakistan, workers for the Chinese companies involved in the dam’s construction are reportedly on tenterhooks and fearful of another terrorist attack.
A local interpreter who works for one of the Chinese firms contracted by the state Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) said Pakistani mobile army units only provided protection to Chinese staff travelling between the Barseen residential camp and the hydropower project’s various sites outside Dasu town in the remote Kohistan region.
Without consistent army protection at the worksites, senior executives of the Chinese firms have reportedly refused to put their staff at risk and ordered a go-slow, said the interpreter who declined to be named as he was not authorised to speak publicly.
Arif Yousafzai, deputy commissioner for Lower Kohistan district, confirmed this. “Full-fledged activities are yet to be resumed, however the work has not been stopped completely,” he said in response to a local press report stating that China Gezhouba Group Corp (CGGC) had refused to resume work at Dasu.
The contractors’ concerns prompted the World Bank, the major overseas financier of the project, to send officials to Dasu, where they spent August 3-7 assessing security arrangements and the technical status of the hydropower project.
“Everybody is scared that there could be another attack, that they could be killed,” said the interpreter. “Everybody is suspicious of everybody, even colleagues who have known each other for several years. They are scared that a colleague might be a terrorist facilitator,” he said, adding: “I am, too.”
