Pakistan: 'Mastermind' of Chinese consulate attack held

KARACHI, Pakistan

A suspected mastermind of 2018 attack on Chinese consulate in the southern port city of Karachi has been handed over to Pakistani authorities after being arrested by the Interpol in the UAE, police and local media reported.

Rashid Brohi -- a member of outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a Baloch separatist group that had claimed responsibility for the attack -- was arrested by the Interpol on Pakistan's request, a senior Karachi police official told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity as he was not allowed to make a public statement on the issue.

The move came a day after the U.S. designated BLA a terrorist group. The group remains a proscribed entity in Pakistan since 2006.

Brohi, according to the official, had fled to the UAE after the brazen attack in November last year in which seven people, including three suspected attackers were killed. His last communication was traced in Dubai, he added.

The attack was sequel of an ongoing resistance by militants against multi-billion dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) who claim the government has neglected their interests.

The $64 billion mega-project signed in 2014 aims to connect China's strategically important northwestern Xinjiang province to Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, mainly Gwadar Port through a network of roads, railways and pipelines to transport cargo, oil and gas.