Lahore: The Islamic State has claimed that they have killed two Chinese nationals they had abducted from Quetta last month.
The Dawn reported that both China and Pakistan are now probing the ISIS claim. An investigation into the IS claim that the Chinese couple had been killed are underway.
The IS claim came hours after Inter-Services Public Relations released details of a three-day operation in the Mastung area of Balochistan earlier this month targeting ‘IS facilitators’, in which security forces had killed 12 “hardcore terrorists, including two suicide bombers”.
Two Chinese nationals were kidnapped on May 24 from the Jinnah town area of Quetta,the provincial capital of Balochistan.
Unidentified abductors had forced the two Chinese nationals, a man and a woman, into a vehicle at gunpoint and drove away, The Dawn reported. The two Chinese nationals were teachers at a private language school in Quetta.
Another Chinese national reportedly managed to escape, while a passerby was injured during firing by the abductors.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Hua Chunying told the official Xinhua News Agency Friday that the government was seeking information from Pakistani authorities.
“We have taken note of relevant reports and we express our grave concern. We have been trying to rescue the two kidnapped hostages over the past days,” Hua was quoted by Dawn as saying.
China has raised its concerns about the safety of its nationals in Quetta because of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project. Thousands of Pakistani soldiers have been tasked with providing security for CPEC-related construction. There have been number of violent strikes in past two years in Quetta.