12 dead in assault on Pakistan’s Karachi airport

Heavily armed militants attacked Pakistan’s busiest airport in the southern city of Karachi Sunday night, killing at least six people as flights were suspended and the army was called in, officials said.

Some six militants have also been killed in the assault as gunfire continues and two huge blasts rocked the Jinnah International airport, amid fears of a prolonged siege similar to other brazen attacks on key installations in recent years.

Army spokesman Asim Saleem Bajwa said in a statement: “All passengers in planes have been evacuated and three terrorists killed.”

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,” indicating he was wearing a suicide vest.

The attackers appeared to have entered from at least two sides of the airport, including the hajj terminal and the engineering section close to an old terminal no longer used for passengers.

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.

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.