"The main goal of this attack was to damage the government, including by hijacking planes and destroying state installations," said Shahidullah Shahid, a Taliban spokesman, as Reuters reports a well trained and heavily armed group of Taliban fighters attacked Pakistan's largest airport in an attempt to hijack a plane. 27 people were killed (including 10 militants ) as the Taliban spokesman added ominously, "this was just an example of what we are capable of and there is more to come. The government should be ready for even worse attacks." This attack comes a day after John Kerry's dismissal of threats by some released Taliban prisoners that they will return to the battlefield and kill Americans as "a lot of baloney."
As Reuters reports, a squad of highly trained Taliban fighters attacked Pakistan's biggest airport in what they clearly expected to be a protracted siege.
Seven fighters were shot dead by Pakistani forces after five hours of intense gunfire at Karachi's Jinnah International Airport. Three died after detonating their suicide-bomb belts.
At least 27 people, including 10 militants, were killed.
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Wearing Airport Security Force uniforms and armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, the group shot its way into the airport after arriving at the cargo terminal in two mini-vans.
A senior police officer said that the militants then split into two groups, with one attacking a gate called Fokker to create a diversion and the other storming the cargo terminal.
Another senior police officer, Raja Umar Khattab, told Reuters that the attackers then broke into groups of two and pressed ahead with the assault.
"They operated in pairs. That's why their bodies were found lying in pairs," he said. "It seems there was some ill-planning on their part. They did fire two rockets but they didn't hit their targets."
He added: "They wasted 10 men, but couldn't inflict serious damage on the airport. They didn't wear suicide vests, but instead used suicide belts. This is the reason why their faces and upper bodies were not badly mutilated."
Comment: Without doubt the average person living in Britain will say: "What growth?"