Karachi Airport Siege: Pakistani Taliban Was on 'Hijack' Mission

Rescue workers and paramilitary soldiers gather next to bodies after an attack on Jinnah International Airport, at a hospital morgue in KarachiReuters

The militants from the Islamist extremist outfit, Tehreek-i-Taliban, who stormed the Karachi international airport sparking a fierce exchange of gunfire, were believed to be on a hijack mission.

The heavily-armed insurgents staged a well-coordinated attack on the Jinnah International Airport, Pakistan's largest and the busiest, and the gunfight is continuing even more than 20 hours after the siege.

Some of the attackers, equipped with suicide vests, grenades and rocket launchers, managed to penetrate up to the runway in what is believed as an attempt to seize a commercial aircraft.

A Pakistani intelligence source, cited by AFP, said the hijack attempt was unsuccessful as the security personnel swiftly began to undertake counter-measures.

"The passenger plane at Jinnah terminal was their target and when they failed to reach there they destroyed two private terminals in frustration," the intelligence official said.

So far, at least 28 people, including 10 Taliban attackers, have been killed as fresh exchange of gunfire is being reported at the airport.

Pakistani authorities have also started search operations at the terminals to flush out any of the hiding militants.

"A precautionary search operation will take place after daylight and the airport will be cleared for operations, handed back to the Civil Aviation Authority/ Airport Security by mid day," said Asim Bajwa, spokesperson for Pakistan's Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR).

The siege has raised serious questions about the ability of the Islamabad administration to secure one of its major transit hubs.

The Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore and the Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad have been placed on red alert following the Karachi attack.

Pakistani Taliban Claims Karachi Airport Attack as Firing Resumes

Smoke billows from Jinnah International Airport in Karachi. Gunmen attacked one of Pakistan's biggest airports and at least 23 people were killed, including all 10 of the attackers, media reported.Reuters

Pakistani security forces have renewed their operation at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi hours after declaring the midnight siege, claimed by Tehreek-e-Taliban that left at least 23 people dead, was over.

Citing security forces, the Pakistani media reported at least three terrorists were still inside the Jinnah International Airport and that fresh firing was heard from inside the airport.

Pakistani TV reports said terror outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban, which is fighting to establish a hardline Islamist rule in Pakistan, took responsibility for the attack.

The reports also said grenades were used in the attack that started around midnight and that security personnel recovered weapons including rocket launchers, petrol bombs and hand grenades from the scene of the attack.

A statement from the prime minister's office said earlier the militants used a cargo terminal to gain access to the airport shortly before midnight.

Reuters said at least 23 people were killed in the attack, including all of ten militants who launched the attack.

Following a five-hour-long counter terrorism operation in which at least 18 army security personnel were killed, the army had said by around dawn that the airport was cleared of the attackers and the siege had ended.

"Area cleared. No damage to aircraft; fire visible in pictures was not plane but a building, now extinguished. All vital assets intact," Major General Asim Bajwa said.

Pakistani authorities put in place a red alert for the Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad and the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore and tightened security across the country.

Hafiz Saeed, the head of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa organisation and founder of Lashkar e-Taiba, said India was behind the attack.

Saeed, who India alleges is the mastermind behind the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai, said in a series of tweets that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "new security team" was responsible for the airport attack.

"#KarachiAirport is an attack on Pakistan. Modi's new security team is behind this act of war by India. Nation knows the real enemy," Saeed tweeted.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani media reported, citing officials in the elite troops, Rangers, that all attackers were of Uzbek nationality.

Rio Mayor Admits Water Will Not Be Clean in Time for 2016 Olympics

Rubbish in Rio's Guanabara Bay (Reuters)

The mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, has said that the city will be unable to clean up its polluted bay in time to host sailing competitions during the 2016 Olympic Games.

Brazil had pledged to reduce pollution in Guanabara Bay by 80%, but Paes has now conceded that this target will not be met.

"I am sorry that we did not use the games to get Guanabara Bay completely clean," Paes told a conference in Rio.

He insisted that the water did not pose a health risk to athletes.

An Olympic sailor who recently visited the bay described it as an open sewer.

Athletes have seen rubbish, animal carcasses and pieces of discarded furniture floating in the bay.

Greater Rio has a population of approximately 10 million people, and millions of litres of untreated sewage is dumped into the bay every day.

Locals avoid swimming at beaches on the bay, and the city has built new enclosed beaches for them to use.

Paes claimed that there would be no risk from pollution for athletes competing in aquatic events during the Olympics as the competitions would be held in a less polluted part of the bay.

He said that Brazilians had a mistrust of the capacity of authorities to deliver, but this summer's World Cup in Brazil and the Olympics in two years would leave an important legacy.

"People are not going to believe in everything we say. I think we have a problem with mistrust. This is a problem that we face from our history. There is a lot of mistrust in our capability of delivering things," Paes said.

India: Seven Held for Dismembering Baby to Bring Treasure Trove

India: Seven held including father for sacrificing 15-month-old daughter by mutilating her in hope of finding treasureReuters

Seven people have been arrested by police in the south Indian state of Karnataka for allegedly sacrificing a 15-month-old baby girl, reportedly according to Islamic belief, even though the Qur'an strongly condemns human sacrifice.

They allegedly mutilated the infant's body into several pieces in the hope that the practice would lead them to a hidden treasure trove.

One of the accused was the child's father Shamshad Alam, a local Muslim cleric in a village of Gulbarga district, 584km (360 miles) from Bangalore.

The child went missing on 21 May and a missing person complaint was registered.

Later, the girl's mutilated body was found behind the cleric's house. The sacrifice is believed to have taken place in a fort where blood spatter was found.

Police say that some parts of the child's body, including the head, are still missing.

"The beheaded body of a child was found in Firozabad. When our team visited Hasapur fort for investigation, Shamshad and his six associates tried to flee from the scene. Mashaq, one of the accused, was injured while jumping from the fort and was admitted to Basaveshwar Hospital in Gulbarga. Shamshad had conspired with the others to sacrifice his daughter in order to reach the treasure the conspirators believed was buried in Hasanpur fort," superintendant of police Amith Singh told reporters.

The baby was believed to have been killed on 24 May. An autopsy report is awaited.

One of the suspects has died in police custody, reportedly due to injuries sustained while trying to escape. His death has been referred to the Criminal Investigation Department and human rights authorities.

Wave of Car Bombs Rips through Baghdad Killing Dozens

A man inspects the site of a car bomb attack in BaghdadReuters

A wave of car bombs has ripped through the Iraqi capital Baghdad killing dozens of people as Islamist militants also stormed a university campus briefly holding scores of students and staff as hostages.

More than a dozen blasts within a gap of one hour left a trail of havoc across several places claiming at least 60 lives, reports say. The first explosion hit Baghdad's commercial western district of Baiyaa.

The insurgents are thought to be from the al-Qaida splinter outfit, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), although no militant group has officially claimed responsibility.

The blasts were focused on Shiite neighbourhoods, yet again underscoring the increasing sectarian violence in Iraq. One of the bombs targeted a Shiite mosque while others were aimed at crowded places like a cinema and shopping areas.

"I was about to close my shop when I heard a huge explosion on the main commercial street. I saw many cars set ablaze as well as shops," Kareem Abdulla, one of the inhabitants in that area who was yet to recover from the shock, told Reuters.

In the western city of Ramadi, the attackers stormed Anbar University by killing several security personnel and blowing up the bridge leading to the campus.

After the extremists took control of the university building, security personnel descended on the area which ended up in a fierce exchange of gunfire. Officials said after the gunfight, the forces regained control of the premises.

Iraq is experiencing some of the worst sectarian violence as the Sunni-led Islamists continue to make inroads into the Shiite-led administration.