Pakistan: TTP involved in plane attack at Peshawar airport

The initial investigation report regarding the attack on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane at Peshawar airport has revealed the involvement of banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Shahid group in the incident, Geo News reported on Friday.

According to the contents of the report prepared by the police, foreign made M-16 gun was used by TTP terrorists to fire on PIA flight no. PK-756 when it was about to land at the Bacha Khan International Airport, Peshawar. The flight which was arriving from Riyadh with 160 passengers on board at the time of attack.

The investigating team has found 24 spent shells of the foreign made gun from Mashu Khel and Suleman Khel areas of Peshawar during the post attack search in the adjoining areas. Police also arrested some suspected persons, however, details about the arrests were not made public.

Witnesses said there were 8 to 10 militants who opened fire on the aircraft at the time of landing.

After the attack, the number of joint checks posts of police and other security forces has been increased in the adjoining areas of Khyber Agency including Mashu Khel, Suleman Khel and Faqirabad.

It is pertinent to mention that a woman passenger was killed and two flight stewards were wounded when a passenger flight of PIA came under attack while landing at the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar on Tuesday night.

The flight no. PK-756 was about to land in Peshawar when unidentified attackers opened fire on the aircraft.

The attack was the first of its kind. There were a number of attacks on the airport in the past but it was for the first time that an aircraft was hit and its passengers were wounded. A search operation was launched in the Pishtakhara and Sarband areas after the attack while more security personnel were deployed around the airport and the airbase. While landing in Peshawar, all aircraft come close to the tribal areas and the nearby settled towns.