The 2012 Bacha Khan International Airport attack was a coordinated assault on

Bacha Khan International Airport Bacha Khan International Airport , formerly known as Peshawar International Airport, is an international airport located in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Located in the southwestern end of the city of Peshawar, it is the fourth-busies ...

and the adjacent Pakistan Air Force Base Peshawar on 22 December 2012 by

Tehrik-i-Taliban The Pakistani Taliban (), formally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (Urdu/ ps, , lit=Student Movement of Pakistan, TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani bor ...

terrorists in

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Assault

The attack was preceded by at least five rockets being fired towards the airport. Three of those landed within the facility, which also houses a

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

base, while the other two hit nearby residential areas. The heavily armed militants then rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the perimeter wall, sparking a firefight with troops posted nearby. Officials at the Khyber Teaching Hospital said they had received the bodies of four civilians, and that more than 40 others had been injured, including children, women and senior citizens, many of whom who were hit by bullets or shrapnel from rockets. Senior official Umar Ayub described the condition of at least four of the wounded as serious. Security officials said five terrorists were killed in the gun battle with troops, and no one managed to actually enter the airport itself. Bomb disposal experts defused four suicide jackets.

Reactions

Defence minister Naveed Qamar said the attack was well planned out and terrorists were heavily armed, however the response by the security forces ensured there had been no damage to property or loss of life within the airport. A Pakistan Air Force spokesman released a statement, saying that "Security forces were fully alert and responded to the attack... There is no damage to equipment and personnel". Officials from the Civil Aviation Authority said the airport was shut down after the attack began and all flights coming to Peshawar were diverted to

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

and

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

. Additional security forces were deployed around the airport and troops searched houses in nearby neighbourhoods.

Responsibility

The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack. A spokesman for the group told reporters in the country's northwest that the target of the attackers was the PAF airbase. The assault was reportedly launched from a nearby village named Abdra, according to a PAF spokesman, who added that a joint counter-terrorism operation by several security agencies was under way. The

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reported that the

Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU; uz, Ўзбекистон исломий ҳаракати/Oʻzbekiston islomiy harakati; russian: Исламское движение Узбекистана ) was a militant Islamist group formed in 1998 ...

also played a role in the attack.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bacha Khan International Airport attack 21st-century mass murder in Pakistan Mass murder in 2012 Spree shootings in Pakistan Terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2012 2012 in Pakistan History of Peshawar Terrorist attacks on airports Terrorist incidents in Peshawar Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan attacks Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan December 2012 events in Pakistan Pakistan–Uzbekistan relations 2012 murders in Pakistan

Assault

Reactions

Responsibility

See also

References