BEIJING, July 9: China on Monday condemned the killings of three Chinese workers in Peshawar and called on Pakistani authorities to do more to protect its citizens there. China’s Ambassador to Pakistan Luo Zhaohui released a statement that also called for a quick investigation into Sunday night’s attack by suspected militants on the Chinese workers’ home in Peshawar.

Luo “condemned the violent incident,” according to China's official Xinhua news agency, which published excerpts of the statement.

In the statement, Luo told Pakistan “to investigate it (the attack), round up the culprits, properly handle the follow-up issues and take effective measures to protect all the Chinese in Pakistan,” according to Xinhua.

Luo said the deputy chief of the Chinese embassy in Pakistan, Mao Siwei, was leading a team of Chinese diplomats who had travelled to Peshawar to “deal with the issue”. A fourth Chinese man was seriously wounded in the attack and late Monday the Chinese foreign ministry called on Pakistan to “mete out severe punishment to the criminals responsible”.

A statement quoting foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang released to Xinhua said: “China has asked the Pakistani side to provide medical treatment to the wounded man and help repatriate the bodies of the dead.”

A senior security official in Islamabad said the attack appeared to have been carried out in revenge for the ongoing efforts by security forces to drive out militants holed up in the besieged Lal Masjid in the capital.

“It appears to be an act of terrorism committed by those unhappy about the government action against the Lal Masjid following the abduction of Chinese women last month,” the official said.

Students from the mosque were last month involved in the brief kidnapping of seven Chinese people who were working in an Islamabad acupuncture clinic that the abductors insisted was a brothel.—AFP