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Pakistani Taliban claims Karachi airport raid

Group threatens more attacks following assault that has left 29 people dead at country's busiest airport.

Last updated: 09 Jun 2014 11:16

The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for an assault on Karachi airport that has killed 29 people, and given warning that more attacks are on the way.
Besides the dead, at least two dozen people were wounded and flights were suspended as a result of Monday's attack on Jinnah International Airport, which is Pakistan's busiest.
A spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said the attack, which began after midnight, was in retaliation for the treatment of TTP prisoners, for air raids in North Waziristan and for the death of Hakimullah Mehsud, who was killed in a drone strike last year.
In a statement posted on Twitter, the armed group said: "We have yet to take revenge for the deaths of hundreds of innocent tribal women and children in Pakistani air strikes. It's just the beginning, we have taken revenge for one, we have to take revenge for hundreds."
Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said the TTP's Shahidullah Shahed sent a text message confirming responsibility and motive.
The raid involved heavily armed attackers disguised as security personnel, who hurled hand grenades and fired automatic weapons as they targeted the airport's cargo terminal.
The army said it had regained control of the airport around dawn after a six-hour siege, but explosions and shooting could still be heard on Monday morning and Pakistani troops relaunched their operation.
The dead included at least 10 of the attackers, officials said.
Al Jazeera's Hyder said the assault was well-planned, with the attackers "wearing uniforms of the airport security force and using fake IDs" to enter the terminal.
People stranded
Most passengers were evacuated to a secure location overnight and all local and international flights were suspended, officials said.
However, witnesses told Al Jazeera that more than 60 people were stranded in the main international airport terminal for several hours as they waited for security clearances.
The gun battles went on for several hours, and television pictures showed a large fire raging at the airport as ambulances ferried casualties away.
Officials showed pictures of weapons used in the raid including sub-machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, grenades and explosives.
Our correspondent said the terminal - an old facility normally used for VIP and cargo flights - was targeted by the attackers before they could gain access to the airport's tarmac.
"This is not the first time. There have been two major attacks in the past, one in Karachi and another in Kamra airbase [in Attock district in Punjab]. There was another attack on Peshawar airport which was foiled," Hyder said.
Security was ramped up at airports and military installations across Pakistan following the Karachi assault.
In a separate incident on Sunday night, at least 23 people including Shia pilgrims were killed in a gun and suicide attack inside a restaurant in Taftan, a town near the Pakistan-Iran border.

Militants Attack Karachi Airport: At Least 23 Killed in Fighting

Military Reports End to Siege at Jinnah Airport

by Jason Ditz, June 08, 2014

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Militants from an as-yet-unknown faction have attacked Jinnah International Airport in Karachi this evening, engaging in overnight fighting with airport security that left at least 23 killed and a number of others wounded.

The death toll included ten of the militants, and at least eight members of airport security and military special forces. The Pakistani military declared the siege “over” as of 8 pm EST Sunday evening, but are still in the process of actually securing the area.

The attack started with an attack on the VIP area of the airport, and a cargo plane was set on fire in the initial siege. After five hours of fighting, fires were set in multiple locations and the airport, Pakistan’s largest for both domestic and international flights, was in a state of lock-down, with flights being rerouted elsewhere.

Government officials say the attackers started lobbing grenades at planes on the runways, and they believe the effort was primarily to “damage the fleet” and create panic at one of the nation’s most secure locations.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack yet, and while the Pakistani Taliban is always the first suspect Karachi has an array of different warring factions who could also be involved.

Heavy fighting reported at Karachi airport

Group attacks cargo terminal with guns and grenades, with at least five people killed, medical sources say.

Last updated: 08 Jun 2014 21:53

Smoke and fire illuminate the sky above Jinnah airport in Karachi [AP]

Heavily armed gunmen have attacked a terminal at the busiest airport in Karachi, with at least five people killed as flights were suspended and the army was called in, officials have said.
An unknown number of armed men hurled hand grenades and fired automatic weapons as they attacked the cargo terminal at Jinnah international airport.
Al Jazeera's Alia Chughtai, who had arrived at the airport's international terminal minutes before the attack, said there were reports that three of the gunmen had been killed as a fire at the scene intensified.
Chughtai said that security forces had cornered seven gunmen. At least three or four aircraft were believed to be damaged.
"Apparently there was gunfire for at least an hour and then it died down, but we have reports now that it has resumed," said Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad.
"The fighters have taken strategic position possibly inside the planes parked inside the airport."
Dr Simi Jamali told Al Jazeera that at least five people, including three airport security force personnel and two Pakistan Airline employees, had been brought into Jinnah hospital from the airport.
All local and international flights were suspended. A witness told Al Jazeera by telephone that she could see smoke rising from the airport.
Rao Muhammad Anwar, a senior police official, said the attackers were armed with automatic weapons and grenades and were exchanging gunfire with security guards.
"Exchange of fire is continuing. We don't know the exact number of the attackers but suspect four to six terrorists have attacked the airport," he told the AFP news agency.
The attack happened at a terminal normally used for VIP and cargo flights, the AP news agency reported.
"This is not the first time, there have been two major attacks in the past, one in Karachi and another in Kamra airbase, there was another attack on Peshawar airport which was foiled," said Hyder.

Source:

Al Jazeera and agencies

http://rt.com/news/164604-pakistan-airport-attack-dead/

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Blasts, gunshots, fatalities as armed militants storm Pakistan's largest airport

Published time: June 08, 2014 19:03
Edited time: June 08, 2014 21:41

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Gunmen 'in suicide' vests attack Pakistan's largest international airport leaving at least nine dead and an airliner burning on tarmac

As many as ten heavily armed terrorists attacked Jinnah International Airport in Karachi on Sunday evening - killing at least five airport security officials

The airport is the largest in Pakistan and all flights have been diverted as the fighting continues into Monday morning

The army has been drafted in to battle the terrorists who are armed with explosives

Live pictured broadcast by Pakistani media shows an aircraft ablaze on the tarmac

Nine people are reported dead - including four of the gunmen - and up to 15 others are injured

By JAMES NYE and DAVID WILLIAMS

PUBLISHED: 14:20 EST, 8 June 2014 | UPDATED: 17:15 EST, 8 June 2014

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At least nine people - including two civilians - have been killed after militants stormed a terminal at Pakistan's largest airport in Karachi and tried to seize a passenger plane on Sunday night.

No group has claimed responsibility, but there are fears that the Mumbai-style attack had been launched by heavily armed gunmen linked to a faction of the Taliban.

A group of militants were trying to seize a plane packed with passengers that arrived on the main runway as the shooting was going on around it, according to local reports.

Blaze: Fire illuminates the sky above a terminal at Karachi Airport on Sunday night where at least five are dead in fighting between security forces and heavily armed gunmen linked to a faction of the Taliban

Burning wreck: Aircraft appear to be ablaze on the tarmac of Jinnah International Airport - Pakistan's largest commercial airport

Armed response: Members of the Karachi police and Pakistani armed forces confer before they try to confront the armed attackers at Jinnah International Airport

Armed response: The attack happened at a terminal not generally used for commercial flights but for special VIP flights and for cargo

The bodies of three Airport Security Force officials and two civilians have been brought to Jinnah Hospital so far, along with 15 injured.

Four terrorists have also been killed, said ISPR Spokesman Asim Bajwa. A rocket launcher and four SMGs were recovered from the slain terrorists.

Pakistani security forces, some arriving by helicopter, surrounded Jinnah International Airport – one of the country’s busiest and the gateway to the major port city – and commandos had isolated the gunmen into two different groups.

Security officials have said the militants are carrying AK47 assault rifles and rocket propelled grenades, and some are wearing suicide vests.

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Three planes are said to have been damaged with one set on fire by a grenade strike. Up to a dozen gunmen are said to be involved, having infiltrated the airport’s old terminal from the Fokker Gate either by cutting the perimeter fence or using forged identity cards.

Pakistan TV has reported smoke billowing from the main building and a number of injured people, their faces covered in blood, could be seen.

Fires raged around two passenger planes parked on the runway.

Attack: Pakistani commandos get ready to enter the airport terminal in Karachi following attacks by unknown gunmen on Sunday night

Armed response: Pakistani security troops rush to Karachi airport terminal following attacks by unknown gunmen on Sunday night

Immediate suspicion fell on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which has been fighting an Islamist insurgency for more than a decade and has carried out a number of spectacular attacks in Karachi.

The city, Pakistan’s largest, has been a hiding place for a number of senior Taliban and Al Qaeda figures. Peace talks between the government and Taliban that began this year have stalled, with the military recently resorting to air strikes on militant hideouts, killing at least 75 people.

A radical faction linked to tribal leader Khalid Mehsud is widely considered the most important of the various groups that comprise the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which has fought the government since 2007 to implement its version of sharia law.

His forces recently split from the main Taliban body and threatened new violence. An airport spokesman said the attack was focused near a terminal not generally used for commercial flights but for VIPs and cargo flights.

Attacks have taken place before on airports in Pakistan, but this is believed to have been the first time that a civilian airport rather a military one has been attacked.

At least one plane filled with passengers was unable to take off as the attack began. Farooq Sattar, a senior figure with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement political party, was on board, and said the aircraft reached the runway only to turn back as the sounds of gunfire exploded around them.

‘They have told us we are safer on board and so the doors will stay shut,’ he said. ‘But this aircraft is full of fuel and so are the other planes here. If, God forbid, the terrorists come here then there could be a terrible fire.’

Witnesses said they heard more than a dozen blasts and sporadic gunfire as Army personnel rushed to join the firefight.

Gunfire could be heard outside the airport into the early hours of Monday morning.

Regional Instability: Jinnah International Airport is in Karachi, Pakistan, the largest city in the South Asian nation which borders long-time adversary, India

According to the Tribune newspaper of Pakistan, the army has established a perimeter around the airport and the government has declared an emergency in Karachi and across the city's hospitals.

However, it is still unclear at the moment who is behind the attack and there has been no apparent claim of responsibility.

Sarmad Hussain, an official with the state-run Pakistan International Airlines, said three of the dead were from the airport's security forces.

'I was working at my office when I heard big blasts - several blasts - and then there were heavy gunshots,' he told The Associated Press after escaping the building. He said he and a colleague jumped out one of the windows to get away, and his colleague broke his leg.

According to initial reports, heavily armed assailants opened fire at the airport terminal used to transport pilgrims to Mecca, which is known as the Haj.

It is the most spectacular attack on the city since gunmen attacked the Mehran naval base there in 2011, killing ten personnel and destroying two aircraft in a 17-hour siege. The airport is seen as the gateway to Pakistan for many British and other international businessmen with flights arriving daily.

The southern port city had been braced for bloodshed and violence since the arrest last week in London of Altaf Hussain, the leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement party, a major force in Karachi.

Mr Hussain lives in self-imposed exile in London, and has run his party from a nondescript office block in the northern suburb of Edgware since 1992 when he claimed political asylum. He addresses mass rallies in Karachi by a conference telephone connected to loudspeakers.

His arrest on suspicion of money laundering sparked outrage and the threat of widespread violence with several buildings linked to British businesses put under guard. Officials said they were investigating possible links between the arrest and those behind the airport shoot-out.

Karachi airport is under attack. According to news reports coming in from Pakistan, up to a dozen gunmen have entered the terminal and are fighting security services

Catharsis Ours

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Pakistan Update -- June 8 , 2014 -- Heavy fighting reported at Karachi airport Group attacks cargo terminal with guns and grenades, with at least five people killed, medical sources say...........