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| Series of blasts and fire caused by them lit up the sky above Jinnah International Airport in Karachi during the night intervening Sunday and Monday. |
Twenty-six persons, including 16 civilians and security personnel and 10 militants, were killed in a militant attack at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi that began on Sunday night and ended in the early hours of Monday.
The militant attack - similar to the 26/11 carnage in Mumbai in 2008 - lasted for more than five hours and saw several blasts, and rounds of ammunition being exchanged between the Pakistani Army and the attackers, all of whom have been killed and who had entered the airport with the help of forged identity cards. The attackers, who were heavily armed and even hurled grenades when they entered the airport, attacked a terminal that is used for cargo and VVIP passengers.
Pakistan officials have claimed that no aeroplane was destroyed, though loud blasts ringed through Karachi, the biggest city in Pakistan, throughout the night. No terrorist outfit has so far taken responsibility for the attack. "All the 10 terrorists have been killed. The airport has been secured; they could not damage any aircraft or installations," a spokesman of the Inter Services Pubic Relations (ISPR) said.
The deadly operation was carried out by 10 militants, said the Chief Minister of Sindh province, Qaim Ali Shah. "They were well trained. Their plan was very well thought out," he "said, adding that the attackers intended to destroy some of the aircraft and buildings but were not able to.
Sagheer Ahmed, the Sindh minister for health, told reporters that 13 people lost their lives in the terrorist attack. "Those martyred include the ASF personnel, civilian engineers and personnel of CAA and PIA and a police officer while a dozen have also been injured and are admitted to hospital," he said.
A spokesperson for the Pakistani military said on Twitter that no aircraft were damaged and that as a precautionary measure, security forces were sweeping the airport before operations would be returned to the Civil Aviation Authority and airport police.
source:indiatoday
