Mastermind of Chinese Consulate attack in Karachi killed in Afghanistan

Pakistani officials and a spokesman for a separatist group say a leader of the militia behind last month's attack on China's consulate in the southern city of Karachi has been killed in Afghanistan.

BLA spokesman Jeeyand Baloch said in a statement Wednesday that their top leader Aslam Baloch and five of his associates were killed in a blast. He did not say where the men were killed.

But an Afghan official had earlier said that six people were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a house on Tuesday in the southern city of Kandahar.

The separatists' killing comes weeks after three gunmen attacked the Chinese consulate in Karachi, triggering a shootout that left the assailants, two police officers and two civilians dead. The BLA, which opposes projects linked to China's Belt and Road infrastructure initiative in



Baluchistan, had claimed responsibility for the attack.

Pakistan accuses Kabul of sheltering Baloch separatists while Afghanistan blames Islamabad for supporting Taliban militants. Both countries deny each other's claims.

Pakistan also accuses Afghanistan its old rival India of supporting insurgents in Balochistan. India denies helping Balochistan insurgents and accuses Pakistan of nurturing militants throughout the region, a claim rejected by Islamabad.

China has funded development of a deepwater port at Gwadar in south Balochistan, and is also investing in other projects as part of the giant China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Sparsely populated Balochistan pronvince, on the borders of Afghanistan and Iran, has rich mineral and natural gas reserves but is Pakistan's under developed province.