ISLAMABAD/QUETTA: The Foreign Office on Monday confirmed the death of two Chinese nationals, who had been kidnapped in Balochistan, and vowed stronger counterterrorism cooperation with Beijing.

“The government of Pakistan strongly condemns the death of two innocent Chinese nationals. The DNA reports have confirmed that the two persons killed in Balochistan in June 2017 were the same two Chinese nationals, who were kidnapped from Quetta in May 2017,” the FO said in a statement.

Daesh — Arabic acronym for the militant Islamic State group — had on June 8 claimed to have executed the two Chinese hostages, but the government had on that occasion maintained silence.

“Islamic State has killed two Chinese citizens detained in the district of Mastung in Balochistan province,” the group’s propaganda wing Al-Amaq had claimed in a message posted on social media sites.

IS claimed on June 8 to have executed them

The message was also reported by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant messages.

The two Chinese-language instructors were kidnapped from Quetta’s Jinnah Town on May 24.

The Chinese government had then strongly reacted to the abduction of its citizens. “The Chinese government attaches great importance to the safety of overseas Chinese citizens and condemns the abduction of personnel in any form,” foreign ministry’s spokesman Lu Kang had said after the kidnapping.

The FO statement said investigations into the incident were continuing and “perpetrators of the crime” would be brought to justice.

“The government of Pakistan expresses its deep sense of shock and grief on this brutal act of terrorism, and extends condolences to the government and people of China and sympathies to the families of the victims,” it said.

The government had following the kidnapping incident taken several measures for the recovery of the abducted Chinese. It had then convened a meeting of the top security body — National Security Committee — for discussing the matter and devising a strategy.

The meeting was a day later followed by a large-scale operation in Koh-i-Siah/Koh-i-Maran mountains, some 36km southeast of Mastung. The operation was said to have been prompted by intelligence reports that the kidnapped Chinese couple was being held in the caves of the mountains. Twelve terrorists were killed in the operation. Five security personnel, including two officers, were injured.

Some earlier reports indicated that the vehicle used in the abduction of the Chinese instructors had been recovered from the area. It is believed that the kidnappers had relocated the couple from the caves to some other location before the start of the operation.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2017