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BEIJING: China on Monday condemned the killings of three Chinese workers in northwest Pakistan and called on Pakistani authorities to do more to protect its citizens living in the South Asian country.
China's ambassador to Pakistan, Luo Zhaohui, released a statement that also called for a quick investigation into Sunday night's attack by suspected Islamic militants on the Chinese workers' home in Peshawar.
Luo "condemned the violent incident", according to China's official Xinhua news agency, which published excerpts of the statement.
In the statement, Luo told Pakistan "to investigate it (the attack), round up the culprits, properly handle the follow-up issues and take effective measures to protect all the Chinese in Pakistan," according to Xinhua.
Luo said the deputy chief of the Chinese embassy in Pakistan, Mao Siwei, was leading a team of Chinese diplomats who had travelled to Peshawar to "deal with the issue".
China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.
A fourth Chinese man was seriously wounded in the attack.
A senior security official in Islamabad said the attack appeared to have been carried out in revenge for the ongoing efforts by security forces to drive out Islamic militants holed up in the besieged Red Mosque in the capital.
"It appears to be an act of terrorism committed by those unhappy about the government action against the Red Mosque following the abduction of Chinese women last month," the official said.
Students from the mosque were last month involved in the brief kidnapping of seven Chinese people who were working in an Islamabad acupuncture clinic that the abductors insisted was a brothel.
- AFP/so
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