ISLAMABAD, Feb. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- The Pakistani government strongly condemned the killing of three Chinese engineers in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan, according to a Pakistani foreign office statement here Wednesday.

    "The people and government of Pakistan condemn in the strongest possible terms the killing of Chinese engineers," said Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam in the statement.

    She said that the people and government of Pakistan expressed their heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families.

    She said that the government of Pakistan also expressed its resolve to enhance security for the protection of Chinese nationals working in Pakistan and assured that government would take all possible measures to prevent such dastardly acts in future.

    "The killing of three Chinese engineers is an act of terrorism carried out to create a wedge between Pakistan and China," she said. "The government of Pakistan is determined not to let them succeed in their reprehensible objective."

    The spokesperson said the law enforcement agencies were taking steps to quickly apprehend the culprits and bring them to justice.

    She said that the people and government of Pakistan "salute the Chinese engineers who laid down their lives for development activities in Pakistan".

    Three Chinese engineers and their Pakistani driver were killed on Wednesday when their car were attacked by gunmen on a road in the town of Hub, some 700 km southeast of Quetta, the Balochistan provincial capital. Three other Chinese also in the car survived with no injury. Enditem