GILGIT, May 5: The authorities in the Northern Areas have enhanced security around the Chinese engineers in the region after Monday's car bomb attack in Gwadar that left three Chinese engineers dead, official sources said on Wednesday.

They said following the Gwadar attack, security around Chinese engineers working in the Northern Areas on various projects had been tightened to avert an untoward situation.

"We believe there is no likelihood of such incidents in this part of the world but still we want to ensure that those foreigners working here are safe," an official in the Northern Areas administration said.

At present some Chinese engineers are working on an 18MW Naltar hydel power project about 30kms from Gilgit and these engineers have set up makeshift camps at various sites including Matumdas, 35kms north of Gilgit.

The sources said that some Chinese engineers are directly supervising construction work on the Karakoram Highway at three sites including Thalichi, Hussaini and Jaglote. They said more Chinese experts and engineers may come to the region from time to time for inspection and construction of the projects.