Japanese autoworkers escape Pakistan suicide bombing unhurt (Lead)

A pair of suicide bombers targeted a vehicle carrying Japanese autoworkers in southern Pakistan on Friday, in another attack aimed at foreigners in the volatile South Asian country.

The early morning bombing occurred in the city of Karachi when at least five employees of Pakistan Suzuki Motors were travelling together to work from their residence, local police chief Azfar Mahesar said.

The first suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest near the vehicle, while the second one opened fire at the car before he was gunned down by guards, Mahesar added.

All the Japanese nationals escaped unhurt.

A security guard and a passer-by were wounded in the attack, which comes weeks after five Chinese workers and their local driver were killed in a suicide car bombing in the country’s north-west.

The Pakistani Taliban, a group different from their Afghan counterparts in organization but follows the same hardline Islam, was found to be behind the March attack against the Chinese.

A Pakistani staffer at Japan’s embassy in Islamabad confirmed the Japanese workers were targeted and said diplomats were in touch with local authorities.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Zardari condemned Friday attack.

More than 80, 000 Pakistani civilians and security forces have been killed in violence since the start of war against al-Qaeda in neighbouring Afghanistan in 2001.

There has been an uptick in violence since the Afghan Taliban regained power in Afghanistan in 2021.