KARACHI, Pakistan — Militants stormed Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport late Sunday, exchanging fire with security forces and leaving at least 28 people dead, officials said.
Separately, gunmen and suicide bombers attacked pilgrims from the minority Shiite sect of Islam in the west of Pakistan, killing at least 25 pilgrims.
The Pakistani Taliban, a group closely linked to al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the airport attack. The group, formally known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, said the attack was revenge for recent Pakistani military airstrikes against them, which followed a breakdown in peace talks with the militants in the last few weeks.
At the airport, the assault began at around 10:20 p.m. local time Sunday and lasted at least six hours, with gunfire, explosions and a raging fire. All flights at the airport were suspended late Sunday. By midday Monday, local time, security officials said the airport was clear of militants. Flights were expected to resume by late afternoon.
Seemi Jamali, a spokeswoman for Karachi’s Jinnah hospital, where the dead and injured were brought, said that 18 airport employees and security personnel were killed by the attackers. In addition, 24 were injured, she said. Security officials said that 10 militants were also killed — seven were shot dead, and three blew themselves up with their suicide vests.
Raja Umar Khattab, head of the Karachi police’s counterterrorism unit, said that it appeared that the assailants had planned to seize part of the airport and take hostages.
“They didn’t achieve their strategic objectives. We were able to control what could have been a much bigger situation,” said Khattab.