An attack on a luxury hotel in the southwestern city of Gwadar was a bid to "sabotage prosperity", Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan said Sunday, as police confirmed all the attackers had been killed
One hotel guard was shot dead Saturday after four gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in the southwestern Pakistani city of Gwadar, the centrepiece of a multi-billion dollar Chinese infrastructure project.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. Source: AAP
A Baloch separatist group, the Balochistan Liberation Army, claimed responsibility for the attack via Twitter.
"Such attempts especially in Balochistan are an effort to sabotage our economic projects and prosperity. We shall not allow these agendas to succeed," Khan said in a statement issued by his office.
Pakistan's military said in a statement that troops quickly responded to Saturday's attack on the Pearl Continental hotel and that all the guests were safely evacuated.
The hotel guard was killed as the assailants opened fire with small arms.
In a statement, the BLA released pictures of the attackers, who authorities say were killed in the ensuing gun battle.
"All four of the terrorists have been killed," a senior security official said.
A second security official said troops had taken control of the area after killing the assailants and a search was still underway in the area.
The hotel is located near the port at Gwadar, which was built by Pakistan with China's help in recent years.
The Chinese embassy in Islamabad also strongly condemned the incident.
The hotel in Gwader. Source: pchotels.com
Gwadar lies about 700km southwest of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.
The region has been the scene of a low-level insurgency by separatists who demand a greater share of the province's natural gas and mineral resources.
The latest attack came weeks after Islamabad claimed that a group of militants crossed the border from neighbouring Iran and killed 14 security officials when they were on their way to Gwadar in buses.
Pakistan at the time blamed a Baluch separatist group, Raji Aajoi Sangar, for the killings.
The Pearl Continental, part of Pakistan's largest five-star hotel chain, is the only luxury hotel in Gwadar, frequented by foreign and Pakistani business delegations as well as diplomats.
It sits isolated on a ridge overlooking the Arabian Sea port city that was formerly a small fishing village, but now touted by officials as "the next Dubai" thanks to the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
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