- Title: PAKISTAN: Security chief denies "attack" on Karachi Airport Academy
- Date: 10th June 2014
- Summary: KARACHI, PAKISTAN (JUNE 10, 2014) (REUTERS) MILITARY AND PARAMILITARY PERSONNEL IN VEHICLES OUTSIDE AIRPORT ACADEMY SOLDIERS INSIDE VEHICLES SOLDIERS INSIDE ARMOURED PERSONNEL CARRIERS VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS ARRIVING
- Embargoed: 25th June 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Pakistan
- Country: Pakistan
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA9NJEC2ULVXI7N31A4WX6121VT
- Story Text: Security personnel in Pakistan's port city Karachi categorically denied media reports on Tuesday (June 10) that Taliban insurgents had carried out an "attack" on a security academy at the teeming city's airport earlier in the day.
A group of gunmen on motorbikes opened fire on the academy run by the Airports Security Force (ASF) and fled after security forces retaliated; no one was hurt, officials said.
Pakistani Television channels went live with the security movements, with many saying there had been an attack on the academy.
The Director General of Airport Security Force (AFS), Azam Khan, said the media's description of the event led to panic.
"The wrong word was used, that there was an "attack". There was no such situation. There was a firing incident, which was within our capability to manage. However, the word "attack" was used by the media, which created panic. You saw the response. Police, Rangers, army, everyone was immediately here," said Khan.
Reflecting an atmosphere of nervousness, Karachi airport suspended all flights in and out of the sprawling city of 18 million for the second time in two days, although most flights were restored by 0930 GMT.
Pakistan's Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the shooting, less than 48 hours after an all-night siege by Taliban gunmen at Pakistan's busiest airport that killed more than 30 people.
Khan said the Taliban were sending these messages to create panic.
"They send these messages to create panic. They are exploiting you. Look, you are being used," said Khan.
Meanwhile, a joint search operation by police and Rangers was carried out in Pehlawan Goth, a shanty town area near the airport where the gunmen had allegedly fled after firing the shots.
Deputy Superintendent of Police, Dr. Fahad Iqbal spoke to Reuters in the area.
"We had received some information from (Rescue) 15 about this Pehlawan Goth area, in which the residents had claimed that some armed were men hiding here. So we have totally cordoned off this area and carried out a search operation. The operation was carried out jointly by police and Rangers. Even now the search and cordon is on and a greater part of the area has been cleared," said Iqbal.
Two days earlier 10 militants disguised as security force members and armed with rocket-propelled grenades stormed the airport, one of the most brazen attacks in a long-running Pakistani Taliban insurgency.
The late Sunday (June 8) assault, in which 34 people were killed, destroyed prospects for peace talks between the Taliban and the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and triggered speculation that the army might opt for an all-out offensive against militant strongholds.
Early on Tuesday, Pakistani fighter jets bombed Taliban positions on the Afghan border.
It was unclear if the latest air strikes signalled the start of a broader offensive in the North Waziristan region where the al Qaeda-linked Taliban are based, or indeed if they had been carried out in retaliation for the airport attack.
The air force has periodically conducted raids to bomb Pakistani Taliban positions in the lawless, ethnic Pashtun region but has yet to launch a major offensive.
The semi-autonomous Pashtun lands along the border, known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, have never been brought under the full control of any government.
The Pakistani Taliban, an alliance of insurgent groups fighting to topple the government and set up an Islamist state, said they had carried out the late Sunday attack in Karachi in response to the air strikes on their strongholds. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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