Gunmen opened fire near the international airport inKarachi, Pakistan Tuesday. The incident came twodays after another attack at the airport that left at least36 people dead.
Officials say at least two gunmen targeted the trainingcenter of the Airport Security Force. The attackers reportedly were riding amotorbike. They fled as security forces answered the attack. Pakistan’sbusiest airport was closed briefly. The Taliban claimed responsibility for theattack.
Nisar Ali Khan is Pakistan’s Interior Minister. On Tuesday, he told parliamentthat the attackers last weekend carried rocket launchers and rocket-propelledgrenades. He said they attempted to destroy aircraft, but were prevented fromdoing so by security forces. Security force members died in the attack.
The interior minister also said the attackers carried a large amount of food andmedicine. He said this was evidence that they were planning to takehostages.
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Pakistani security personnel stand guard at the Karachi international airport in Pakistan, Tuesday, June 10, 2014. Gunmen in Pakistan attacked a training facility near the Karachi airport. |
Pakistan officials said that 10 gunmen and seven airport workers were killed in the attack on Sunday. The bodies of the workers at an airport cargo companywere found in a storage area that burned as gunmen attacked the airport.
Hours earlier, Sunni Muslim militants killed at least 26 Shiites in a suicideattack along Pakistan’s border with Iran. Officials reported that one suicidebomber was killed and three others took their own lives.
A Taliban spokesman linked the airport attack to recent military strikes alongthe Afghan border. He also linked the airport attack to the killing of theTaliban’s leader, Hakimullah Mehsud.
On Tuesday, the Pakistani military again carried out airstrikes on suspectedTaliban targets in the northwestern Khyber area. Military officials say at least25 “terrorists” were killed.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said on Monday that he was “deeply concerned” about rising levels of violence across Pakistan. He urgedthe Pakistani government to increase its effort to protect religious freedom.
