Pakistan: Airport security: no lessons learnt

Hardly a month after the audacious attack by militants at Karachi airport on the night between June 8 and 9, the security at the airport remains surprisingly lax. Accounts of survivors Dawn spoke to on Thursday revealed that the Custom Gate, one of the entrances used by the militants to enter the premises of the airport and subsequently attack the Gerry’s Dnata office situated right opposite it, has almost no security.

When this reporter visited the site in the afternoon, an agent was seen sitting at a security guard’s post asking people for commission to get their customs cleared from the authorities. On moving ahead towards the main entrance, a private security guard meekly asked for a card and before waiting for it to be shown, asked us to drive our car ahead.

Once inside, four security guards were seen sitting outside a blackened wall of the Gerry’s Dnata office, who didn’t take much notice of the stream of motorcycles going inside. Those wanting to enter the premises were not being questioned at all and being let go in after small talk.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a survivor of the attack and a staffer at one of the custom clearance departments said the security had been like that for the last month. Speaking to Dawn on telephone, he said: “Most security guards assigned to question the visitors can’t read what’s written on their cards. Also, they don’t know about the location of various departments. So, in case someone lies to them, they are more likely to let them go since they have no idea where that department is situated anyway.”

He says a day after the attack a heavy contingent of Airport Security Force (ASF) personnel was sent across the airport to guard the main entrances to the airport. “But since that day, I have only seen these security guards manning the gates and at times even they are not in their seats. I can’t say for sure if the weapons they have will work in case something happens again.”

The person is among the few survivors of the attack which began on the June 8 night. Speaking about the incident, he said he was early for his 11pm shift. “One of my friends asked me to fix his internet so I got busy with that. A few minutes had passed when we both heard gunshots. My friend told me that he could see five Chinese-looking men with ammunition bags hanging from their shoulders entering through the Custom Gate.” Heavy gunfire followed and soon the men inside realised that the approaching men were militants. “We hid behind the cashier counter. Though we sat hunched behind the table for a minute, the firing continued nonstop. Just then, I received a phone call from a dear friend from work, Farid Khan, he told me to stay behind the counter, and if needed, come towards the cold room storage, which he said was safe.”

Though both friends tried to make a dash towards the corridor, they had to rush back in as they saw two militants standing in the middle providing cover to the other three militants running towards the cold room storage.

The men were caught in the middle in an office which had the Fokker Gate on its left and the Air-Freight Unit (a cargo area) in the middle. “It takes five minutes to get there if one runs towards it. But considering the situation around us, with hand-grenades being lobbed and firing going on for over an hour, we chose to stay inside.”

By 1.30am, they heard a knock on the door. It was an ASF official asking them to come out. “I quickly raised my hands to show my employee card. It was a quick procedure from there onwards. The ASF commandos searched us, and asked us to run towards the gates.” The two friends ran out and one of the first people they met were the reporters who wanted to know what had happened inside. By the time he reached home, it was already 3am. “My only concern was for Farid Bhai who had been calling me from time to time. A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a warehouse where the cold room storage is located.”

From then till 5am, he says he called up every upper management person he knew. “Their reassurances sounded hollow. There were people stuck inside the cold room storage which was quickly catching fire. The least they could have done was to make those people a priority.”

He further said that a post-mortem report of those killed in the cold room showed that the last surviving person died around 9am. “Was it too difficult to save them? Farid Bhai’s wife told me that she received a phone call from him at 3.30pm. He told her that he won’t be able to make it home. I only know that if those killed inside the cold room storage were related to a higher-up at the airport, they would have been alive today.”

The trauma of witnessing an armed attack and subsequent deaths of those close to him lingers in his mind, he says. “I didn’t show up at work for two days. But when I did, because I was getting anxiety attacks at home, I was asked to give an explanation for my absence,” he adds quietly.

Though he has not taken a day off since that day, he says it is annoying to see that things are still the same at the custom gate. “It seems the attack happened somewhere else,” he remarks. “Farid Bhai’s brother was given Rs700,000 after the incident. He refused to take the money because he says they could have saved him and others.” At the same time, there is the security issue which, he says, won’t be resolved until the management takes proper responsibility. “Otherwise, those who were lucky this time around might not survive the next time.”

As the ASF is not authorised to speak to the media, a spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority, Abid Qaimkhani, said he “is surprised to know that there’s no security. Our employee cards are constantly checked. I don’t know what you saw, but I can assure you the security inside the airport has been strengthened since the attack.”