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Gunmen Attack Karachi Airport, Killing at Least 6 Gunmen Infiltrate Karachi Airport in Deadly Terror Attack
(about 1 hour later)
KARACHI, Pakistan — Gunmen attacked a cargo and V.I.P. area of Karachi’s international airport late Sunday night, engaging in an extended firefight with security forces and killing at least six people, Pakistani officials said. KARACHI, Pakistan — In a ferocious terrorist attack that stretched into Monday morning, gunmen infiltrated Pakistan’s largest international airport, waging an extended firefight against security forces in Karachi, damaging planes and shaking the country’s already fragile sense of security.
Security officials said that six to 10 attackers made it past security barriers at one of the airport’s cargo gates, close to runways. Local news networks reported the men were wearing security uniforms and rammed through security checkpoints in a van. Officials said that the attackers were using grenades and automatic weapons, and news reports said that at least two planes had caught fire, and huge fireballs were seen near the runway. Hospital officials said the gunmen had killed at least 10 people, including nine members of the security forces and one airport employee. Huge explosions and fireballs were reported at several points during the fighting, and local news outlets said at least two planes had caught fire.
An official at Jinnah Hospital in Karachi, Dr. Seemi Jamaili, said that the militants killed at least six people, including four Airport Security Force guards and two airport employees. At least 16 people were reported injured, and all the city’s hospitals were put on alert, Dr. Jamaili said. Karachi police officials said that at least four of the attackers had been killed, but the military reported that several others were still fighting, albeit contained in one area of the airport grounds away from the commercial passenger terminals. Flights continued to be canceled or diverted away from Karachi for hours.
Early Monday, a spokesman for the Pakistani military, Maj. Gen. Asim Bajwa, said that at least three of the attackers had been killed, and that the others were surrounded, though fighting continued. The attack began late Sunday night, when as many as 10 attackers made it past security checkpoints near the airport’s old terminal, mostly used for cargo or private flights for senior government officials and business leaders. Some news reports said the men wore identification saying they were members of the Airport Security Force.
Earlier, the military reported that all airline passengers and crew members at the airport had been safely evacuated. Flights continued to be canceled or diverted away from Karachi. Hurling grenades and unleashing automatic weapons fire, the attackers at least initially moved toward the nearby web of runways as they fought, according to news and witness reports. Several planes were said to be damaged or aflame, though the companies they belonged to could not be confirmed.
It was not immediately known whether the gunmen specifically meant to attack that part of the airport, Pakistan’s largest, or had been stopped by airport security on their way to somewhere else. Senior government officials or wealthy Pakistanis often board private flights at the affected terminal.
“The target appears to be to create panic and damage the fleet,” said one government official, who said that spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing attack.“The target appears to be to create panic and damage the fleet,” said one government official, who said that spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing attack.
A spokesman at Jinnah Hospital in Karachi, Dr. Seemi Jamali, said that in addition to the dead, at least 16 people had been seriously injured, and all the city’s hospitals were on alert.
It was unclear who was behind the attack, and there was no immediate claim of responsibility, though initial suspicion fell on the Pakistani Taliban or one of its splinter groups.It was unclear who was behind the attack, and there was no immediate claim of responsibility, though initial suspicion fell on the Pakistani Taliban or one of its splinter groups.
A tentative peace process with the Taliban, begun by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government in February, has disintegrated in recent weeks. The militant group has split into at least two opposed factions, in part over disagreements about whether to negotiate with the government. The Pakistani Army renewed a campaign of airstrikes against the militants in North Waziristan two weeks ago, and factions of the Taliban were believed to be behind a deadly attack on a high-security military complex near Rawalpindi last week.A tentative peace process with the Taliban, begun by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government in February, has disintegrated in recent weeks. The militant group has split into at least two opposed factions, in part over disagreements about whether to negotiate with the government. The Pakistani Army renewed a campaign of airstrikes against the militants in North Waziristan two weeks ago, and factions of the Taliban were believed to be behind a deadly attack on a high-security military complex near Rawalpindi last week.
Karachi, Pakistan’s commercial hub and biggest city, has in recent years been increasingly contested by the Taliban and other militants. Many have moved in from the country’s northwestern tribal regions and have become embroiled in the chaotic and violent political turf battles that have wracked the city.Karachi, Pakistan’s commercial hub and biggest city, has in recent years been increasingly contested by the Taliban and other militants. Many have moved in from the country’s northwestern tribal regions and have become embroiled in the chaotic and violent political turf battles that have wracked the city.
In separate violence, in a part of remote Baluchistan Province on the border with Iran, at least 23 Shiites were reported killed in a coordinated suicide bombing. The Associated Press quoted provincial officials as saying the attack had come as the victims were returning from a visit to Iran. In a demonstration of the far-flung security crises that beset Pakistan, at least 23 Shiites were reported killed in a coordinated suicide bombing in a remote part of Baluchistan Province on the border with Iran. The Associated Press quoted provincial officials as saying the attack had come as the victims were returning from a visit to Iran.
Although the Taliban have frequently been behind attacks on Shiites and other religious and ethnic minorities in Pakistan, such violence in Baluchistan has more often been waged by other sectarian militias like Lashkar-e-Janghvi. Human rights officials have accused Pakistan’s military of aiding or turning a blind eye toward those groups, as they are considered its allies in a long war against Baluch separatists.Although the Taliban have frequently been behind attacks on Shiites and other religious and ethnic minorities in Pakistan, such violence in Baluchistan has more often been waged by other sectarian militias like Lashkar-e-Janghvi. Human rights officials have accused Pakistan’s military of aiding or turning a blind eye toward those groups, as they are considered its allies in a long war against Baluch separatists.
The attack on the Karachi international airport was the most audacious militant strike in the city since the coordinated attack against the Mehran naval base there in May 2011. At least 10 members of the security forces were killed in the attack, which also destroyed two surveillance planes provided to Pakistan by the United States and deeply embarrassed the country’s military.
In December 2012, Taliban militants struck the airport in Peshawar, the main city in Pakistan’s northwest, killing seven people. That attack was suspected of being aimed at a military facility inside the airport’s boundaries.