PM Shehbaz directs review of National Action Plan against terrorism: Marriyum

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed a review of the National Action Plan (NAP) against terrorism, adding that perpetrators of the Karachi university blast will be brought to justice.

"The law and order situation of the country was reviewed in today's federal cabinet meeting," she said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad after the cabinet meeting chaired by prime minister Shehbaz Sharif.

China demands punishment for perpetrators of suicide attack at KU

The development comes a day after a suicide blast killed at least four people, including three Chinese nationals, and injured two others. A van carrying staff from the Confucius Institute at Karachi University was targeted in the attack.

Karachi police confirmed four people had died, including the minibus driver and three staff from the Confucius Institute, the cultural and educational programme that China operates at universities around the world. The banned Baloch Liberation Army had claimed responsibility for the attack.

Earlier on Wednesday, China strongly condemned the suicide attack at the University of Karachi and asked Pakistan to apprehend and punish the perpetrators.

Pakistan strongly condemns terrorist attack on Chinese nationals: FO

According to a statement released by the Chinese foreign ministry, China's assistant minister of Foreign Affairs Wu Jianghao called the Pakistani Ambassador to China to "express extremely grave concern."

"He demanded that the Pakistani side should immediately make a thorough investigation of the incident, apprehend and punish the perpetrators to the full extent of the law, and take all possible measures to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens in Pakistan and prevent such incidents from happening again."

Meanwhile, Marriyum announced that the cabinet approved the appointment of Asim Ahmad, a BS-21 officer of the Inland Revenue Service (IRS), as the new chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

Asim Ahmad appointed FBR chairman again, replaces Ashfaq Ahmad

She said that the cabinet was given a detailed briefing regarding the Power Division.

Criticising former premier Imran Khan, Marriyum said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman has again resorted to "container politics" after a failure in governance.

"During his tenure, Imran Khan used NAB and FIA against its opponents," she said adding: "even after 4 years, the previous government couldn't prove a single corruption allegation against us."

"If there was corruption or money laundering then why it was not proved in four years?" she asked.

Marriyum said that Imran Khan is afraid of Shehbaz Sharif's performance. "We reopened the metro bus service, which had been closed for four years, in four days."

The information minister claimed that the PML-N had also won the elections in 2018.

"We will win the next elections as well," she added.