Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Pakistan airport attack leaves 27 dead
Mission to hijack plane in Pakistan results in 27 dead
Ten Taliban fighters attempting to hijack a plane in Karachi were among those to die in the violent assault Sunday.
KARACHI, Pakistan — Their backpacks stuffed with food and ammunition, a squad of highly trained Taliban fighters attacked Pakistan’s biggest airport in what they expected to be a protracted siege.
Seven fighters were shot dead by Pakistani forces after five hours of intense gunfire at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport. Three died after detonating suicide-bomb belts.
The Pakistani Taliban said Monday they carried out the Sunday attack in response to airstrikes on their strongholds near the Afghan border and that their mission was to hijack a passenger plane. At least 27 people, including the 10 militants, were killed.
The assault all but destroys prospects for peace talks between the Pakistani Taliban and the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
It also deals a blow to Sharif’s efforts to attract foreign investors to revive economic growth and raises questions about security at Pakistan’s main installations.
Shahidullah Shahid, a Taliban spokesman, said: “The main goal of this attack was to damage the government, including by hijacking planes and destroying state installations.”
Just before midnight, 10 gunmen in military uniforms armed with automatic rifles and rocketpropelled grenades arrived at a cargo terminal in two minivans, then shot their way in.
The militants split into two groups, with one attacking a gate called Fokker to create a diversion and the other trying to take over the terminal, police said.
“They operated in pairs. That’s why their bodies were found lying in pairs,” said senior police Officer Raja Umar Khattab.
He said the militants fired rockets at passenger planes but missed.
Passengers were evacuated, and all flights were diverted. Officials said no aircraft were damaged.
Gun battles went on until security forces regained control of the airport at dawn Monday, and television pictures showed fire raging as ambulances ferried casualties away.
At least three loud explosions were heard, apparently from militants wearing suicide belts blowing themselves up.
A spokesman for the paramilitary Rangers said a large cache of arms and ammunition had been recovered from the militants, and the government said security was being stepped up at all airports.
In separate, unrelated violence, 24 Shiite Muslim pilgrims were killed in a suicide attack near Pakistan’s border with Iran, an official said. Aradical Sunni Islamist group claimed responsibility.
A suspected Taliban suicide bomber also rammeda truck into a military checkpoint on the border with Afghanistan, killing four soldiers, military officials said.