Tokyo/Islamabad, Apr 19 (EFE).- A suspected suicide attack targeted a group of Japanese workers in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi on Friday, Pakistani and Japanese officials said.

Japanese authorities stated that the attempted suicide attack resulted in injuries to one Japanese national and three Pakistanis even as the Pakistani officials asserted that the foreigner worker escaped unhurt.

The attack occurred when a van carrying five Japanese nationals was fired upon by a suspected militant, who was shot dead by the accompanying police, the officials said.

A Pakistani security official stands guard as the body of an alleged terrorist, killed by security forces at the scene of a suicide bomb attack, is shifted to a hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, 19 April 2024. EFE-EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER

Another assailant detonated an explosive near the vehicle and was killed instantly, according to Pakistani police sources.

“There was an attack on a vehicle with Japanese nationals on board on Friday, and for now, it has been confirmed that one of them was injured,” government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo.

Karachi police spokesperson Abrar Baloch stated that the foreigners were employees of the Japanese YKK company and were en route from their residences to their workplace.

*ATTENTION: GRAPHIC CONTENT A Pakistani security official inspects the body of a suspected terrorist at the scene of a suicide bomb attack in Karachi, Pakistan, 19 April 2024. EFE-EPA/REHAN KHAN*

“Five Japanese nationals, their bodyguards, and the driver were in the vehicle,” said Baloch adding that two bystanders were injured in the gunfire.

The police spokesperson said the Japanese were moved to a safe place.

In Tokyo, the government spokesperson said they were gathering information about the incident.

The Japanese embassy promptly notified its citizens in Pakistan about the potential for similar attacks.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack on the Japanese workers.

“Timely action by the police saved us from any major loss of life,” he said. “We will not rest until terrorism has been completely eradicated. We will thwart every nefarious act of disturbing the law and order situation.”

The incident comes after a bomb attack last month killed five Chinese workers and their local driver in northwest Pakistan.

Militants have attacked foreigners, mostly Chinese, in the country in the past in to stop foreigners from working on government-run projects.

Baloch separatists blame the central government in Islamabad for unfairly exploiting natural resources in Balochistan.

No militant group claimed responsibility for the rare attack on Japanese nationals.

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