KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Gunmen stormed an airport terminal used for VIPs and cargo in Pakistan’s largest city Sunday night, killing five people and wounding another, officials said, striking blow to a city vital to the country’s economy.
The attack still was ongoing early Monday in Karachi, a sprawling port city on the southern coast of Pakistan. Gunfire could be heard coming from the terminal at Jinnah International Airport as authorities scrambled to secure the area.
Five bodies were brought from the airport to Jinnah Hospital, along with one person who had been wounded, said Dr. Seemi Jamali at the hospital.
Gunmen attacked the terminal late Sunday, said Shaukat Jamal, a spokesman for the Airport Security Force. Pakistani television stations aired footage of what appeared to be a major fire at the airport, with the silhouette of a jet seen.
Jamal said the Pakistani military has been called in and that police were fighting the attackers.
The attack happened at a terminal not generally used for commercial flights but for special VIP flights and for cargo.
Sarmad Hussain, an official with the state-run Pakistan International Airlines, said three of the dead were from the security force tasked with protecting the airport and the other two were from PIA.