University of Karachi bombing

On 26 April 2022, a suicide bombing hit a van near the University of Karachi's Confucius Institute, killing three Chinese academics and their Pakistani driver. Of the three Chinese nationals killed, one served as the director of the university's Confucius Institute, while the other two were teachers. The attack prompted China, which reportedly lost confidence in Pakistan's ability to secure Chinese nationals, to request permission to deploy Chinese private security contractors within Pakistan.

The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a group internationally designated as a terrorist organization, claimed responsibility for the bombing. The organization stated the attack was intended to discourage Chinese development programs in the region, and said the perpetrator was its first female suicide bomber.

The bomber was identified as Shari Baloch, a 30-year-old schoolteacher from Kech District, Balochistan, and a mother of two.

Her husband, Habitan Bashir Baloch, was arrested on 27 April 2022, a day after the bombing, and was interrogated by authorities as security forces searched for other suspected facilitators. Pakistan's interior minister later briefed China's ambassador on the investigation.

In July 2022, Pakistani authorities said they had arrested a key orchestrator of the bombing, stating the attack resulted from combined efforts by two insurgent groups: the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). The attack drew condemnation from Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, India, Kuwait, the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and the UN Security Council.