At least 4 Pakistanis killed, 50 injured as rockets hit near Peshawar airport

[ApfelGanja]

At least four people have been killed and more than fifty injured after rockets and gunfire from an unknown direction hit the airport near the Pakistani city Peshawar.

­Three of at least five rockets fired into Bacha Khan International Airport in Pakistan have exploded killing four people and injuring dozens, Pakistani medical officials report as cited by AFP.

The attack was immediately followed by a heavy gunfire from as of yet unidentified attackers.

The airport has been sealed off by security forces, and a state of emergency declared.

There are no reports on the situation inside the airport but hospital sources have confirmed five deaths and at least 25 injuries, some of them critical.

The gun battle between security forces and militants is still going on, a senior government official reported.

A statement from the Pakistani Air Force said that unknown terrorists attacked the airport but were driven back by security forces. The statement added that they are conducting a search and clearance operation until those responsible for the attack are eliminated.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but the region has seen regular Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked attacks against government security forces in recent months.

Peshawar is a semi-autonomous tribal region on the border with Afghanistan and is a sanctuary for Taliban and al-Qaeda militants.

 

UPDATE:

Pakistani police kill 5 militants in gunfight following airport assault

Police gunned down 5 militants holed up in a house in the northern Pakistani city of Pashawar after they attacked the city’s airport. An officer was also killed in the ensuing firefight when police cornered the suspected Taliban insurgents.

The five militants sought refuge in the village of Pawaka, around 3 kilometers from the airport. Three of the armed insurgents were shot dead by police as they tried to escape the building where they were holed up, said Pakistani Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain. The two remaining men, however, detonated their suicide vests when officers stormed the building.

Pakistani military officials said that all of the gunmen were Uzbek militants, with whom the Taliban have been known to work in the past.The gunfight broke out just hours after the militants carried out an attack on Peshawar airport. The suspected Taliban insurgents fled the airbase after five of them were killed when the military moved in to secure the area.

 

 

 

Edited December 16, 2012 by ApfelGanja