Brazen attack: Taliban blitz Peshawar airport near PAF base
PESHAWAR:
Militants launched a brazen assault on one of Peshawar’s most tightly guarded installations late Saturday, killing four people, wounding dozens more and forcing the city to go in lockdown.
The attack on Bacha Khan International Airport, which is attached to Peshawar Air Force (PAF) base, was marked by a prolonged exchange of gunfire between militants and army troops.
The militants allegedly planned to enter the airport with suicide vests and an explosives laden vehicle in two separate groups. Five militants were felled on the spot, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), while a search operation continued late into the night for any possible auxiliary elements.
However, an earlier statement by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) said that four terrorists have been killed and one injured. “Four suicide jackets have been defused… a Joint Operation consisting of all security agencies is in progress to clear the area,” it said in a written statement.
The search and clearance operation continued late into the night on Saturday. According to a statement by ISPR, five terrorist bodies lying outside the boundary wall of the airport would be cleared with the help of a bomb disposal squad.
Meanwhile, a spokesman of PAF said rocket fire had damaged the outer wall of the airport, but no terrorist had been able to penetrate inside and that security forces were in full control of the situation. The spokesperson also confirmed that PAF assets were safe and secure within the air base.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain has a slightly different recap of events.
“Four attackers were involved. One of the attackers was wearing a suicide vest and was driving a car. He rammed his car into the outer wall of the airport (compound),” he said.
“Another attacker wearing a suicide vest blew himself up prematurely, killing three of them (the attackers),” he added.
“Rocket launchers were also fired. The attackers failed to reach the target. The dead bodies of the four terrorists are in police custody. Both Peshawar airport and the attached air base are safe,” he said.
There was yet another version from the police.
CCPO Imtiaz Altaf told The Express Tribune that police had killed four militants who were in a vehicle and were trying to breach the airport from the opposite side of town.
“There were four men in the vehicle armed with AK-47 rifles and RPG-7s and four suicide vests. Our men fired at them and as a result the vehicle exploded. We diffused one suicide jacket,” he added.
Brazen attack: Taliban blitz Peshawar airport near PAF base
Militants launched a brazen assault on one of Peshawar’s most tightly guarded installations late Saturday, killing four people, wounding dozens more and forcing the city to go in lockdown.
The attack on Bacha Khan International Airport, which is attached to Peshawar Air Force (PAF) base, was marked by a prolonged exchange of gunfire between militants and army troops.
The militants allegedly planned to enter the airport with suicide vests and an explosives laden vehicle in two separate groups. Five militants were felled on the spot, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), while a search operation continued late into the night for any possible auxiliary elements.
However, an earlier statement by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) said that four terrorists have been killed and one injured. “Four suicide jackets have been defused… a Joint Operation consisting of all security agencies is in progress to clear the area,” it said in a written statement.
The search and clearance operation continued late into the night on Saturday. According to a statement by ISPR, five terrorist bodies lying outside the boundary wall of the airport would be cleared with the help of a bomb disposal squad.
Meanwhile, a spokesman of PAF said rocket fire had damaged the outer wall of the airport, but no terrorist had been able to penetrate inside and that security forces were in full control of the situation. The spokesperson also confirmed that PAF assets were safe and secure within the air base.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain has a slightly different recap of events.
“Four attackers were involved. One of the attackers was wearing a suicide vest and was driving a car. He rammed his car into the outer wall of the airport (compound),” he said.
“Another attacker wearing a suicide vest blew himself up prematurely, killing three of them (the attackers),” he added.
“Rocket launchers were also fired. The attackers failed to reach the target. The dead bodies of the four terrorists are in police custody. Both Peshawar airport and the attached air base are safe,” he said.
There was yet another version from the police.
CCPO Imtiaz Altaf told The Express Tribune that police had killed four militants who were in a vehicle and were trying to breach the airport from the opposite side of town.
“There were four men in the vehicle armed with AK-47 rifles and RPG-7s and four suicide vests. Our men fired at them and as a result the vehicle exploded. We diffused one suicide jacket,” he added.
Brazen attack: Taliban blitz Peshawar airport near PAF base
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