Pakistan's foreign minister blames Afghanistan and India for suicide attack on Chinese workers

Pakistan's foreign minister has accused India and Afghanistan of backing a suicide bombing which killed nine Chinese workers on July 14, and called for the remaining perpetrators to be handed over to Islamabad for trial. The attack, which took place in Pakistan's northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, left 13 people dead and dozens injured after a bus convoy carrying Chinese engineers to a construction site was rammed by a car carrying more than 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of explosives, according to Pakistan authorities. Two Pakistan soldiers were also killed in the attack.

Speaking at a press briefing Thursday, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi alleged the attack had been carried out by "the Pakistani Taliban out of Afghanistan," with the approval of Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security and India's Research and Analysis Wing.

Qureshi said Pakistan would be facilitating and assisting China to "punish those behind this attack," and putting in a request to the Afghan government to "hand over the three planners" who he alleged were still operating out of the country. An Indian official told Reuters that the allegations were baseless.

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