Two Terrorists Behind 2021 Bus Attack on Chinese Engineers Shot Dead in Pakistan

Islamabad: Two masterminds of the 2021 attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in which nine Chinese engineers were killed, were shot dead during an attack on a police van in Pakistan 's Punjab province on Friday, an official statement said. 

In 2021, a bus attack near the Dasu hydropower plant in the Upper Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa resulted in the deaths of at least 12 people, including nine Chinese engineers and two personnel from the Frontier Corps, with several others injured.

"On Friday, two terrorists involved in the Dasu dam attack were killed by their own accomplices while they were being transferred from Sahiwal Jail, some 200 kilometres from Lahore, in view of a threat alert," a spokesperson for the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab police said. 

Two Terrorists Who Masterminded Bus Attack on Chinese Engineers Shot Dead

He further said that, following a threat alert from the Interior Ministry, five terrorists were being transferred from one jail to another. Among them were the masterminds of the attack, Muhammad Hussain and Ayaz K, along with three others: Salim Khan, Abu Bakr, and Latifullah.

In view of security concerns, they were being transferred from Sahiwal Jail in two police vans when unknown terrorists attacked one of the police vans to free their accomplices from custody, he said.

"As a result of the firing, two terrorists Mohammad Hussain and Ayaz K were killed and the CTD personnel remained safe in the attack," he said while adding that slain militants were facing life imprisonment.

The Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), an Islamabad-based think tank, reports that Pakistan has seen a rise in terrorist attacks, with 45 incidents recorded in September, up from 59 in the previous month.

(With inputs from PTI)