Intel Brief @ SoufanCenter.org, May 6

Bottom Line Up Front

• In late April, three Chinese nationals were killed in Karachi, Pakistan, in a suicide attack claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), designated by the United States as a Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs).
• As China’s economic, political, and security inroads in Pakistan have increased, the BLA has also deliberately attacked Chinese nationals and interests in the country over the past few years.
• The broad range of organizations that have targeted Chinese nationals and interests in Pakistan in recent years illustrate growing anxieties about Chinese engagement and human security risks.
• The deepening Sino-Pakistan relationship serves Beijing’s geopolitical goals in the region, ranging from strengthening its historical alignment with Pakistan against India to establishing closer ties to a now Taliban-controlled Afghanistan [....]