Deadly attack on Karachi airport

Gunmen disguised as police stormed a terminal used for VIPs at Karachi's main airport on Sunday night, with Pakistani police saying at least 13 people had been killed.

All passengers were reported to have been evacuated from Jinnah International Airport. Heavy gunfire and at least two explosions were heard from outside. Police said all of the attackers had been killed although it remained unclear if there were any civilian casualties.

"(The attackers) were confined to two areas and eliminated," Pakistan's Dawn newspaper cited military spokesman Maj-Gen. Asim Bajwa as saying. There were no immediate claims of responsibility.

Following Bajwa's statement, there were reports later in the morning that gunfire had resumed at the airport and that the security operation had been resumed.

Dr Seemi Jamali, from the city's Jinnah Hospital, said nine bodies had been brought to the hospital as a result of the fighting, seven of whom were from the airport's security team. Flames were later seen coming from the airport.

The terminal where the attack took place was said to be used by VIP passengers and for cargo flights.

Mashhood Tajwar, a spokesman for the state-run Pakistan International Airlines, said at least two domestic flights were diverted and that all flight operations at the airport had been suspended.

'Walkie talkies and satellite phones'

Pakistan's Geo.tv website said the armed assailants had thrown grenades at security forces, as they opened fire.

There were unconfirmed reports that the attackers had walkie talkies, satellite phones and heavy weapons.

In a separate incident in the province of Baluchistan, at least 23 people were reported to have died in an attack on a bus returning from holy Muslim sites in Iran. The attack took place as the party stopped at a restaurant in the town of Tafta, some 700 kilometers (430 miles) southwest of the provincial capital, Quetta.

"The seven injured people were taken to Iran for medical aid after a special request to the Iranian consulate in Quetta, said the provincial interior minister, Akbar Durrani.

"The rest of the 270 pilgrims will be taken to Quetta in tight security tomorrow," he added, saying the victims were from "all over Pakistan".

rc/crh (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)