Pakistan says 5 arrested over attack on Chinese consulate

KARACHI, Pakistan – A Pakistani police officer says investigators have arrested five suspects charged with aiding a separatist group accused of attacking the Chinese Consulate in Karachi last year, killing two civilians and two policemen.

At a news conference on Friday, officer Amir Sheikh said the men arrested confessed to their role in facilitating three assailants, who were killed during the Nov. 23 attack at the consulate.

He claimed the detainees were linked to Baluch Liberation Army, a Baluchistan-based group which claimed responsibility for the attack on the Chinese Consulate at the time.

Sheikh alleges that India’s intelligence helps the BLA.

Spokesmen for the BLA and India were not available for comment.

Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations and routinely accuse each other of orchestrating violence in their countries.