India beefs up airport security after deadly attack in Karachi
Posted June 9, 2014 7:15 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
India beefed up security on its airports in metro cities on Monday after a group of heavily armed gunmen stormed Pakistan’s biggest airport and at least 26 people were killed in a night-long battle at one of the country’s most high-profile targets.
Defence Analyst, Bharat Verma said the attack raises serious concerns for India.
“Pakistan army is incapable of handling it anymore. Its capabilities have been degraded. Large territories are out of Pakistan army’s control and this itself is a subject matter that should worry India because what happens inside Pakistan and that fire if it spreads to India, India which is busy in reconstruction of its economy, is going to face a very big challenge by the end of this year coming from Pakistan,” said Verma in New Delhi.
The assault on Jinnah International Airport in Karachi on Sunday, Pakistan’s sprawling commercial hub of 18 million people, took place as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government tries to engage Taliban militants in talks to end years of fighting.
The attack began just before midnight when 10 gunmen wearing military uniforms shot their way into the airport’s old terminal used mainly for charter and executive flights.
The Pakistani Taliban, an alliance of insurgent groups fighting to topple the government and set up a sharia state, claimed responsibility, saying it was in response to army attacks on their strongholds along the Afghan border.
The attack all but destroys prospects for significant peace talks with the government of Sharif, who came to power last year promising to find a negotiated solution to years of violence.
At the airport, gun battles went on for five hours and television pictures showed fire raging as ambulances ferried casualties away. At least three loud explosions were heard as militants wearing suicide vests blew themselves up.
Meanwhile, giving significant reasons for the attack, Commodore (Retd), Ranjit B. Rai, said the militants are looking for Islamisation and jihad through such attacks.
“As analysts, see attacks (are) increasing in Pakistan which is a box now, a tinder box. Pakistan, Taliban and the Afghanistan Taliban are looking for the Sharia law, they are looking for Islamisation, they are looking for Jihad and today the game in South Asia is Afghanistan. Therefore, the pressure is on Pakistan, the terrorists that they actually employed for using Afghanistan before and against India are now turning against them for the power they need,” said Rai in New Delhi.
By dawn on Monday, the army said the airport had been secured but heavy smoke rose above the building.
Pakistan’s paramilitary force said the attackers were ethnic Uzbeks. Pakistani officials often blame foreign militants holed up in lawless areas on the Afghan border for staging attacks alongside the Pakistani Taliban around the country.
Officials said no aircraft had been damaged.
Earlier, officials said all flights had been diverted.
Peace talks between the government and the Pakistani Taliban have failed in recent months, dampening hopes of reaching a negotiated settlement with the insurgency, which continues attacks against government and security targets.
Pakistan’s Taliban are allied with but separate from the Afghan Taliban
