Pakistani police were searching for a gunman who opened fire on a passenger plane during its landing approach at Peshawar airport Tuesday evening, killing one person and wounding three others, officials said, casting fresh doubt about security at Pakistan's main airports.
The Pakistan International Airlines flight, landing in Peshawar's northwest region from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, was attacked as it descended with 178 passengers and an undetermined number of crew on board, killing a female passenger and injuring three crew members, Reuters reported. Although there have been no immediate claim of responsibility, suspicion will likely fall on the Pakistani Taliban, who have promised a bloody response to the army's assault on their strongholds in North Waziristan.
The gunman was aiming specifically at the highly flammable fuel tank in order to blowup the Airbus A310 aircraft, including the cockpit. "It would have been a disaster had they hit the fuel tank or cockpit," said a senior Pakistan International Airlines official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the press.
As ten AK-47 bullets whizzed by, the captain of the plane described his frantic efforts to land the aircraft safely. "I saw several bullets flashing towards the cockpit and fuel tank and tried to avoid them," the senior PIA official quoted the captain as telling ground staff after landing the airplane. "The cockpit and fuel tank were safe but eight bullets hit the right side of the plane, near the service door. The second engine, which was close to the fuel tank, was also hit."
Matnoon Begum was shot in the thigh as the bullet passed through her body before exiting through the throat, killing her on the way to the hospital. "Her nine-year-old daughter was sitting next to her, but she was all right," the airline official said. No information has been released about the other victims.
Police conducted search operations near the airport and arrested "more than 200 suspects" in connection with the incident, according to senior police official Najeeb Ur Rehman. Mass arrests are commonplace in the aftermath of major terror incidents in Pakistan but most suspects are often let go quickly, Agence France-Presse reported.
No one immediately claimed responsibility and the Taliban were not available for comment.
The Civil Aviation Authority said all flights were suspended after the latest attack, but domestic flights resumed operations on Wednesday. International flights remained suspended.
The violence in Peshawar comes just two weeks after a group of militants laid siege to the country's busiest airport in Karachi, killing 29 people and prompting the Pakistan army to start bombarding Taliban positions in tribal areas.
