THE LATEST:
Officials at the Peshawar airport are releasing a few more details about the shooting at a PIA airplane that was landing. They said flight attendant Ijaz Afridi was one of those injured in the shooting. A female passenger was killed. The pilot is credit with safely crash landing the airplane at the airport and preventing a fire from breaking out inside the plane, which could have happened if a bullet had penetrated the engine.
A spokesperson for PIA now says there were three people inside the plane who were injured. Most of the airplane’s passengers were pilgrims returning to Pakistan after they offered Umrah.
PREVIOUSLY:
The Associated Press reports that someone has fired at a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight that was coming in for a landing at Peshawar’s Bacha Khan International Airport. About 180 passengers were on the airplane. Officials at the airport say one of the passengers died in the shooting and one of the flight attendants was injured. The AP is reporting that a second person was also wounded in the shooting. Also local media in Pakistan are reporting that the airplane was damaged in the shooting.
Early reports of the PIA shooting
The flight that the gunmen fired at was PIA flight PK-756. It was coming in from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Officials at the airport say one of the passengers died in the shooting and one of the flight attendants was injured. The AP is reporting that a second person was also wounded in the shooting. Also local media in Pakistan are reporting that the airplane was damaged in the shooting. The two injured people have been transported to the Combined Military Hospital.
Airport officials have initiated a state of emergency at the Peshawar airport. The Pakistan Tribune reports that the ASF and police in Peshawar have begun search operations at the airport to try to find the gunman. At this point it’s unclear what type of weapon was used in the shooting.
Pakistan government targets Taliban
Today’s attack on the Bacha Khan International Airport comes about a week after the Pakistani government vowed to take down the Taliban in the country. Officials made that promise after deadly attacks by militants at the Karachi airport. Earlier this year, insurgents also attacked the Bacha Khan airport, once on April 29 when they fired rockets at the airport, hitting a nearby army barrack, and again on Feb. 26 when two rockets actually landed inside the airport.
