Heavily armed militants attacked Pakistan’s busiest airport in the southern city of Karachi Sunday night, forcing the suspension of all flights, officials said.
Senior police official Rao Muhammad Anwar said the militants were armed with automatic weapons and grenades and were exchanging gunfire with security personnel.
“Exchange of fire is continuing. We don’t know the exact number of the attackers but suspect four to six terrorists have attacked the airport,” he said.
Abid Qaimkhani, a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority, confirmed the attack, adding all flights had been suspended.
Television footage showed plumes of smoke rising from the runway where planes were parked.
There has so far been no claim of responsibility, but Pakistan has been battling a homegrown Islamist insurgency for more than a decade that has claimed thousands of lives.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government began negotiations with the umbrella Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — the main Islamist militant group fighting the state — in February, with a ceasefire beginning March 1 but breaking down a month later.