At least eight persons, including four civilians, a Pakistan Navy soldier and three militants, were killed in Saturday’s deadly attack on a luxury hotel in the port city of Gwadar in the restive Balochistan province, as the security forces cleared the building and defused explosive devices left behind by the attackers, the Pakistan Army said Sunday.
Three militants ofthe Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), armed with automatic weapons, stormedthe Pearl Continental (PC) Hotel in Gwadar and opened random firing, killing aguard on Saturday. All three attackers were killed by the security forces.
China has built adeep-sea port in Gwadar, which is one of the focal points of the China-PakistanEconomic Corridor (CPEC). Beijing has invested over USD 50 billion to link theport city with the China’s far-western Xinjiang region. Many Chinese andworkers from other provinces of Pakistan are also employed at the port. PakistanPrime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday condemned a deadly attack on the PC hotel,saying the terror strike was an effort to “sabotage” the country’seconomic projects and prosperity.