Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (left) chairs a high-level security meeting in Islamabad with Pakistan's Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir (right) and other officials, one day after a suicide attack that killed five Chinese nationals working on a major dam construction site in northwest Pakistan. Pakistan officials said they have ramped up security guarding Chinese engineers in the northwest.

Pakistan has taken a series of actions to enhance the safety of Chinese nationals and property following a suicide bombing in late March as Chinese observers urged comprehensive plans and effective implementation amid the country's complicated security situation. 

After the attack on March 26 killed five Chinese engineers and a local driver working for Dasu hydropower project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif decided to personally review monthly meetings on the overall security of the country, particularly that of Chinese working on development projects.

Pakistan will upgrade security procedures for Chinese constructors to "foolproof" and will step up efforts to eliminate terrorism, Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported. 

The Pakistani military killed 12 militants in separate operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan on Friday night and Saturday and recovered weapons, ammunition and explosives, Dawn reported Sunday. 

Sharif also ordered the punishment of at least five officials, including a regional official, three district officials and the security director at the Dasu project for negligence in performing their duties, according to local media.

The Chinese engineers were attacked in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province during their commute. A similar attack on staff at the Dasu project happened in July 2021, which killed nine Chinese nationals and four Pakistanis. 

Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told a press briefing on Saturday that security matters regarding Chinese citizens would be "treated with utmost seriousness and any lapses will not be tolerated."

After the attack, Pakistani police have arrested more than 12 people, including Afghan nationals, in connection with the bombing. 

The Pakistani Taliban, also known as the TTP, was reportedly behind the incident, per Pakistan's Express Tribune newspaper, but the TTP has not claimed responsibility.

The car used in the terrorist attack was non-custom paid and smuggled into Pakistan through the Chaman border with Afghanistan, the Express Tribune reported.

Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Sunday that the series of actions shows the Pakistani government attaches great importance to the safety of Chinese nationals and property. 

However, the country faces a complicated security reality and the government has relatively weak hold of certain areas where separatist groups are active and terrorist attacks are frequent, Qian said. 

In April 2022, three Chinese teachers were killed in an attack carried out by the Baloch Liberation Army. The flagship project of Gwardar Port is also frequently the targets of attacks by Pakistan separatist groups.

Security efforts have been enhanced for the Dasu project after the 2021 attack, however, the long commutes in mountainous regions are a weak point in the mechanism, Li Wei, an expert on national security at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times. 

The upgrade of security mechanisms should be comprehensive without a blind spot, and must be carried out effectively, analysts stressed, noting that Pakistan needs cooperation with China in its difficult battle against terrorism.  

Punjab province chief minister Maryam Nawaz expressed her resolve to provide foolproof security to the Chinese nationals working on development projects in Punjab, the Hindu reported Sunday. 

Nawaz noted the digitalization of terrorists, their US weapons sourced from Afghanistan and social media brainwashing youth as major challenges in the war against terrorism.