Pakistan Airport Attack Left 21 Killed

Militants attacked Pakistan’s largest airport in Karachi on Sunday leaving more than 20 persons dead and some passengers who were trapped inside.

Violence erupted at Pakistan’s Jinnah International Airport in Karachi around 11:30 pm Sunday as security forces fought off attackers that continued for more than five hours. The dead included eight members of airport security forces, two Pakistan International Airlines employees and one ranger, Jinnah Hospital said. Report said the attackers armed with grenades stormed the airport using three entrances.

Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Asim Bajwa said all ten militants involved in the attack were killed including two of them who detonated their suicide vests. Bajwa added the attack ended Monday morning, and the airport is under military control. A building caught fire during the attack, but no planes were damaged, Bajwa said.

One militant blew himself in front of an armored car that left some people inside the vehicle critically injured, said a CNN report.

Authorities in Pakistan said the identities of the militants was not yet known, including its motives for the assault.

The airport’s cargo area is about a kilometer (0.62 miles) away from the area where commercial planes take off, according to CNN report, and the militants were contained inside a maintenance area of Pakistan’s busiest airport.

“All passengers in planes evacuated to safer places,” Bajwa said in a Twitter post during the clashes. “Hunt for terrorists on.”
Hours later, officials said the attack had ended and the airport was under the military’s control, report said.

All flights at the airport were canceled as the violence unfolded but Bajwa said the airport would be cleared to resume operations by midday.

Several days ago, Pakistan’s government had warned provincial officials of a possible “high-profile attack on a sensitive or key installation,” but the warning did not mention the airport, said Qaim Ali Shah, chief minister of Sindh province.

Report said that earlier Sunday, at least 22 people were killed in twin suicide bomb attacks in Taftan, Pakistan, near the country’s border with Iran.

Source: CNN

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