KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Gunmen in Pakistan attacked a training facility near the Karachi airport on
Tuesday, a spokesman said.
Pakistani television stations showed images of security guards rushing to the scene and frantically
taking up positions behind buildings or earthen berms around the facility, which serves as a training
center for airport security personnel. The facility is roughly one kilometer (half mile) from the
Karachi international airport.
The attack began as at least two groups of gunmen tried to enter the facility from two different
entrances, said Ghulam Abbas Memon, a spokesman for the Airport Security Force. The security forces were
fighting them back, he said. Memon did not know how many attackers were involved or whether there were
any casualties.
Details were sketchy and no one immediately claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack.
The firefight came on the heels of a brazen siege by the Taliban who on Sunday night stormed Karachi’s
Jinnah International Airport in an attack that killed 36 people, including the 10 Taliban gunmen. At
least 11 members of the Airport Security Force were killed during that attack.
The Civil Aviation Authority, which is responsible for running the country’s airports, said in its
Twitter feed that all flights at the Karachi international airport have been suspended because the
academy for the ASF was under attack.
The organization called on people to be calm and patient.