When the clock struck 12 : Rockets land on Bacha Khan Airport taxiway, army barrack

No loss of life or damage to the runway was reported.

PESHAWAR: Rockets landed inside Bacha Khan International Airport (BKIA) and hit an army barrack on Khyber Road a little before midnight on Sunday. The police said the ammo was fired from Sarband, near the provincial capital’s outskirts.

The artillery used – MRB-12 – is of Chinese origin, shared police officials. One of the rockets landed near the taxiway inside the airport while the other hit an army barrack. The attack caused panic among people at the airport but no loss of life or material damage was reported.

“Last night, we thought those rockets were fired from Khyber Agency but we are now convinced that they were fired from Sarband and the target was BKIA,” said a police official.

BKIA was been a frequent target of such attacks in the past. On February 26, five rockets were fired from the direction of Shakas, Khyber Agency, out of which two landed inside BKIA. However, no damage was reported.

On December 15, 2012, five rockets were fired towards BKIA. Three of them landed within the facility while the other two hit nearby residential areas. Immediately after, a group of terrorists tried to enter the facility while another group rammed a car-bomb into the perimeter, initiating a shootout with troops posted nearby. The attack left 15 dead, including a police official, while 48 others were injured. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2014.