Breaking: Karachi Airport Attacked by Unknown Gunmen

[Eternal_Freedom]

Source.

Heavily armed gunmen have attacked Karachi international airport in Pakistan, killing at least 10 people.

Police say four of the gunmen who attacked Jinnah International Airport's old terminal have also been killed.

Security personnel have sealed off the airport and army commandos have been called in, with gunfire continuing.

All operations at the terminal have been suspended and all flights to the airport are being diverted.

Staff are being evacuated.

At least 14 people have been wounded.
Billowing smoke

The dead terminal staff were said to be mostly security guards from the Airport Security Force (ASF) but also airline workers.
Pakistan troops at Karachi airport, 8 June The army has been called in to tackle the gunmen
Pakistan's Karachi airport, 8 June Exchanges of fire are said to be continuing

Dawn News said the gunmen had infiltrated from the Fokker Gate area.

The attackers are believed to have entered the area using fake ID cards. Other reports suggest they cut through a barbed wire fence.

There is no indication yet who is carrying out the attack.

Smoke is billowing from the attacked terminal.
'Plane on fire'

An ASF spokesman told Agence France-Presse that the gunmen had reached the runway and that a "gun battle is continuing between terrorists and [armed] forces".

An AFP reporter saw used gun magazines littering the engineering section where the first exchange took place and said that the previously heavy gunfire was now more sporadic.

However, the reporter later heard two huge blasts at the airport.

Dawn reported that some attackers had managed to get inside a plane.
Pakistan's Karachi airport, 8 June An injured man is evacuated from the airport

Hammad, a diplomat staying near the airport, told the BBC he had gone on to his rooftop and could see a plane on fire in the airport.

Sarmad Hussain, an official with Pakistan International Airlines, told AP: "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.

The terminal is not normally used for commercial flights but for cargo and special VIP operations.

Sindh's Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah is said to have arrived at the scene.

Pakistan has been fighting an Islamist insurgency for more than a decade, with the Pakistani Taliban the main militant group.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif recently told the BBC he was still hopeful his peace initiative with the Taliban could succeed.

But little headway has been made since February and there have been frequent violent clashes.

Karachi has been a target for many insurgent attacks.

Gunmen attacked the Mehran naval base there in 2011, killing 10 personnel and destroying two aircraft in a 17-hour siege.

[madd0ct0r]

BBC currently reporting 23 dead, including 10 militants. The airport has been retaken. The Pakistan Taleban has claimed responsibility.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Just another repeat of the attack on the Pakistani air force base....