4 dead and 50 injured in suicide attack in Pakistan

Officials say the airport building has not been damaged A suicide car bomber and militants armed with rockets and explosives targeted an international airport in Pakistan late Saturday, killing four people, wounding dozens more and forcing the airport to close, officials said. The unprecedented attack on the airport in the northwestern city of Peshawar, a commercial hub and Pakistan Air Force (PAF) base, sparked a prolonged volley of gunfire as army officials launched a search operation, witnesses said. Pakistani Talibans claimed responsibility for the attacks a few hours later. "We carried out this attack, and we will carry more such attacks on this airport," a Taliban spokesman told an AFP reporter on the phone.
The PAF said that four terrorists have also been killed and one injured. "Four suicide jackets have been defused... Joint Operation consisting of all security agencies is in progress to clear the area," it said in a written statement.
"Four attackers were involved. One of the attackers was wearing a suicide vest and was driving a car. He rammed his car in the outer wall of the airport (compound)," said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, information minister for the northwestern province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
"Another attacker wearing a suicide vest blew himself up prematurely, killing three of them (the attackers)," he added.
"Rocket launchers were also fired. The attackers failed to reach the target. The dead bodies of the four terrorists are in police custody. Both Peshawar airport and the attached air base are safe," he said.
More than 50 others have been injured in the attack. Three rockets landed in residential areas near the airport, officials said. It has been reported that women and children are among the victims. Four injured are in critical condition.
Pakistani television footage showed a vehicle with a smashed windscreen, another damaged car, bushes on fire and what appeared to be a large breach in a wall.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the Pakistani Taliban and other Islamist militia have claimed responsibility for past attacks on military air bases and routinely carry out attacks in Peshawar.
Peshawar is the main gateway to Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt on the Afghan border, where the Taliban and a-Qaeda-linked groups have strongholds.
"Three rockets were fired. Two landed inside Peshawar airport and another hit a vehicle (outside),” Imran Shahid, a senior police official, told AFP.
It was not immediately clear where in the airport the rockets landed and the extent of the damage.
Mian Iftikhar Hussain, information minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of which Peshawar is the capital, confirmed the attack and the same casualty toll.
Pervez George, spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority, confirmed that the airport had been closed and flights cancelled, but said there had been no damage to the airport building or terminals.
"All Pakistani airports at this time are on red alert," he told Pakistani television.
"If needed, we will divert incoming flights to Islamabad and (the eastern city of) Lahore," he told AFP
"The airport is closed and the lights have been turned off," he added.
Pakistani Islamist militants have carried out previous attacks on military air bases in the nuclear-armed country.
In August, 11 people were killed when heavily armed militants dressed in fatigues and wearing suicide vests stormed an air force base in the northwestern town of Kamra.
In May 2011, it took 17 hours to quell an attack on an air base in Karachi claimed by the Taliban, piling embarrassment on the armed forces just three weeks after US troops killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.
Pakistan says more than 35,000 people have been killed as a result of terrorism in the country since the 9/11 attacks on the United States and that its forces have for years been fighting homegrown militants in the northwest.
Source: AFP