21 dead after gunmen storm Karachi airport
Update: All 10 militants involved in the attack have been killed, said Inter Services Public Relations spokesman Asim Saeed Bajwa. He also declared that the six-hour long siege was over.
Heavily armed militants attacked Pakistan's busiest airport in Karachi on Sunday night. Six people were killed as flights were suspended and the army was called in.
Six militants have also been killed in the assault at the Jinnah International airport where two huge blasts were reported.
The airport hangar on fire just a few minutes after the blasts that took place at the Jinnah International Airport yesterday.
A senior intelligence official at the scene, who requested anonymity, said the total number of militants killed was six and that some were found wearing a light blue uniform.
“One of them blew up when he was shot,” said the official, indicating the militant was wearing a suicide vest.
The precise number of attackers was unclear but multiple officials had earlier placed the figure at around half a dozen, though it is now believed to be higher. The attackers were armed with machine guns and grenades.
The army, the airport security force, police and paramilitary forces have all been deployed at the scene, where gunfire was intermittent.
A paramilitary ranger engaged in the operation said the militants, who had entered through the engineering section of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), gunned down security first.
An AFP reporter at the airport said there had been two “huge” blasts indicating more suicide bombers had detonated themselves.
Passengers are stuck in the airport after gunmen stormed and attacked the terminal. Flights have been suspended.
Broken glass and used gun magazines littered the engineering section where the first exchange of gunfire had taken place as smoke from grenade attacks began to die down.
- AFP
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