June 9, 2014
Note to Readers: This is a very preliminary report based on initial on-the-ground reporting from Karachi by the BBC, which actually has a reporter on the scene. Details of the attack and the casualty count are bound to change dramatically in the hours ahead, so treat this report with a high degree of circumspection. MMA
Taliban claim deadly attack on Karachi airport
BBC News
June 9, 2014 (5:17 EST)
The Pakistani Taliban have said they were behind an attack at the country’s largest airport that killed at least 28 people, including 10 militants.
The raid began late on Sunday at a terminal used for cargo and VIP flights at Karachi international airport.
Following reports of fresh violence early on Monday, airport officials said the siege was now over and flights were set to resume in the afternoon.
Karachi has been a target for many attacks by the Taliban.
A spokesman for the group, Shahidullah Shahid, said Monday’s assault was “a message to the Pakistan government that we are still alive to react over the killings of innocent people in bomb attacks on their villages”.
The dead terminal staff were said to be mostly security guards from the Airport Security Force (ASF) but also airline workers. At least 14 people were wounded.
Analysts say the attack further undermines Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s attempt at initiating peace talks with the Taliban.
The negotiations have made little headway since February. Critics have argued that they could allow the militants to regroup and gain strength.
The Pakistani Taliban’s latest attack was well co-ordinated
The airport raid comes against the backdrop of a major split in the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) and threats of retaliation after limited military operations against foreign militants in North Waziristan.
Despite its divisions, the TTP clearly still has the ability to launch spectacular attacks - and this one appears far better coordinated and organised than many others.
That has led analysts to suspect the involvement of highly trained al-Qaeda fighters, and months of training.
One of these highly trained al-Qaeda linked groups is the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), which has bases in North Waziristan.
Uzbek fighters are known to have launched similar high profile attacks before - for example on Peshawar airport in 2012 - and to have links with Pakistani groups blamed for other coordinated assaults, such as the 2011 Mehran naval base attack in Karachi.
'Well trained'
The army said the 10 gunmen stormed Jinnah International Airport in two teams of five on Sunday at 23:00 local time (18:00 GMT).
Authorities shut Jinnah shortly after the assault began and diverted flights other airports.
The army said they found suicide vests after the gun battle
Some reports suggested the attackers were foreign nationals
The attackers are believed to have entered the area using fake ID cards, although some reports suggest they cut through a barbed wire fence.
They threw grenades and fired at security guards in the old terminal, which is now only used for cargo and VIP operations.
The Chief Minister of Sindh province, Qaim Ali Shah, said the attackers “were well trained”.
"Their plan was very well thought out," he said, adding that they had failed to destroy some of the aircraft as they had intended.
Seven of the attackers were later shot dead during a gun battle which lasted until about 04:30. Another three detonated their explosives.
The militants set fire to cargo, but no aircraft were damaged, the officials said.
I was with police at the Fokker Gate where some of the militants initially entered - and a few hundred metres from the fighting. We spent five to six hours at the airport while the militants were battling.
Witnesses told us the militants came in a high-roofed van, which dropped them at the entrance to this terminal and then quickly left.
We took cover while loud bomb blasts could be heard. Officials told us it was suicide bombers detonating their vests. Later they discovered live suicide jackets from militants shot dead in the encounter.
Army officials said there were indications that some of the gunmen may have been foreign nationals.
There were also reports of at least two huge blasts at the airport.
Sarmad Hussain, an official with Pakistan International Airlines, told the Associated Press news agency: “I was working at my office when I heard big blasts - several blasts - and then there were heavy gunshots.”
He said he and a colleague escaped by jumping from a window. His colleague broke a leg.
Passenger Ignas Vosylius said he heard “several explosions” shortly after his plane landed
Pakistan has been fighting an Islamist insurgency for more than a decade, with the Pakistani Taliban the main militant group.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif recently told the BBC he was still hopeful a peace initiative with the Taliban could succeed.
But violent clashes have continued and Karachi has been a frequent target.
Gunmen attacked the city’s Mehran naval base in 2011, killing 10 personnel and destroying two aircraft in a 17-hour siege.
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