Pakistan will pay US$2.58 million in compensation to the families of 5 Chinese who died in suicide bombing

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan will pay $2.58 million in compensation to the families of five Chinese engineers who were killed in March when a suicide bomber targeted the vehicle carrying them in the northwest, the Finance Ministry said.

The Chinese were attacked in the town of Bisham as they headed to the Dasu dam, the largest in Pakistan, where they were working.

The ministry said in a statement late on Thursday that the government will also pay $8,950 to the family of the Pakistani driver who also died in the March 26 attack.

The government claims the attack was planned in Afghanistan and that the bomber was an Afghan citizen. Afghanistan’s Taliban government and Pakistani militants have denied the allegations.

The compensation was approved at a meeting led by Finance Minister Mohammad Aurangzeb, the statement said.

Thousands of Chinese are working on projects related to China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Some have been attacked in recent years by militants who accuse them of plundering mineral resources.