Militants fired rockets into the airport compound of Pakistan’s northwestern city Peshawar late on Saturday, killing at least two people and forcing the airport to close, officials said.
Peshawar is the main gateway to Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal belt on the Afghan border, where the Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked groups have strongholds.
“Three rockets were fired. Two landed inside Peshawar airport and another hit a vehicle (outside). So far, two people have been killed and 22 wounded,” 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.
Two airport officials told AFP that the airport had been closed as a result of the attack and that all flights had been cancelled.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the Pakistani Taliban and other Islamist militia routinely carry out attacks in Peshawar, most notably against government security forces.
'Two dead' in rocket attack on Pakistan airport
