PESHAWAR – A Taliban suicide squad
staged an audacious car bomb, rocket
and gun attack on Peshawar Airport on
Saturday night, in which nine people,
including five attackers, were killed.
In one of the deadliest raids since a pre-
dawn assault on a PAF airbase in
Kamra in August, militants armed with
rockets and suicide vests attacked
Bacha Khan International Airport,
which handles civilian and military
traffic, on the outskirts of Peshawar,
killing four people and wounding 40
others.
The unprecedented attack on the airport,
a commercial hub and Pakistan Air
Force (PAF) base, sparked a prolonged
volley of gunfire as army officials
launched a counter operation.
According to Civil Aviation Authority,
the terrorists – among them three
suicide bombers – were five in numbers
and were all killed. Contrarily, claiming
the responsibility for the attack,
Ehsanullah Ehsan – spokesperson for
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan – said they
had fielded 10 men to target the air force
base.
Police officials said one of the suicide
bombers, rammed his explosives-laden
vehicle into the outer wall of the air
field, while others attempted to sneak
inside but got killed in a 30-minute long
trade of fire with security forces. The
officials further said the suicide
bombing attempt followed rocket
attacks. In all, three rockets were fired,
but they missed the targets and landed
several hundred metres away from the
passenger terminals in a congested
locality, University Town, wounding
dozens of people and damaging several
houses.
The injured, including women and
children, were ferried to the Khyber
Teaching Hospital. Umar Ayub, chief
executive of the Lady Reading Hospital,
said, “They received 31 injured. All of
them suffered bullet injuries and some
of the injured are in critical condition.
An emergency has been declared in the
hospital and all the surgeons have been
called.”
Soon after the well-coordinated attack, a
massive contingent of police and
security forces was deputed in the area
and the airport was sealed off from all
sides.
Officials of the Bomb Disposal Squad
said they defused four suicide jackets
near the blast site. The rocket attacks
and powerful blast jolted the entire city
and triggered fear among the citizens.
According to the Civil Aviation
Authority, only one commercial flight
was present at the airport at the time of
the attack. A CAA official said the plane
had arrived from Jeddah a few minutes
before the attack. He, however, added
that none of the passengers was hurt.
The Pakistani Taliban later claimed
responsibility for the attack and
threatened to carry more such attacks in
the near future. “We carried out this
suicide attack, we will carry more such
attacks on this airport,” Taliban
spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP
by telephone from an undisclosed
location. “Our target was jet fighter
planes and gunship helicopters and soon
we will target them again,” he said.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information
Minister Iftikhar Hussain confirmed it
was a terrorist attack that Pakistani
security forces thwarted. He said that a
search operation was in progress that
would lead to a final conclusion.
In a statement, the PAF said none of the
terrorist could penetrate inside the air
field, which lies near a residential area
and military barracks in Peshawar. It
said that four terrorists have also been
killed and one injured. “Four suicide
jackets have been defused... Joint
Operation consisting of all security
agencies is in progress to clear the
area.”
According to Tariq Mahmood,
spokesperson for the PAF, no damage to
PAF assets and personnel occurred
within the air base. “Security forces
were fully alert and are in control of the
situation,” he said. A military official
said “We have repulsed the attack on
the airport”.
Meanwhile, all Peshawar-bound flights
were diverted to the Lahore and
Islamabad airports over security
concerns, while a red alert was declared
at all important airports in the country.
