Pakistan now says terror angle can't be ruled out as China moves to probe fatal bus blast

A massive bus blast in northern Pakistan was reported on Wednesday, where 13 people including nine Chinese engineers lost their lives. Making a stupendous U-turn, Pakistan's Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Thursday said that a terror angle could not be ruled out from the Dasu bus tragedy in Kohistan while adding that the initial investigations confirmed traces of explosives. In his tweet, Chaudhry revealed that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is 'personally supervising all developments'. PM Imran Khan is currently in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. 

"We are committed to fight menace of terrorism together" read the tweet of Minister Fawad Chaudhry who also wrote that Pakistan is in close coordination with the Chinese embassy. 

The statement from Chaudhry is in contrast with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's statement which earlier mentioned that the Prima facie was not a consequence of a terrorist attack.

On the day of the bus blast, Qureshi had met the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation-Council of Foreign Ministers in Dushanbe where Yi emphasised strict measures against the miscreants.

Pakistan Foreign Minister had earlier mentioned that the bus suffered a mechanical failure that caused it to fall into a ravine after which a gas leak caused an explosion.

China expedites special team to probe Pakistan bus blast

Not satisfied with Pakistan's claim, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Thursday said that it is rushing a special team to Pakistan to probe the bus blast which killed 13 people including nine Chinese engineers. While announcing the probe, he also said that the country is shocked by Chinese casualties and described the incident as a 'bomb attack'.