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All flights in Pakistan have been suspended after a string of bomb warnings at airports across the country.
(SkyNews) – The country’s civil aviation authority is said to have instituted a state of emergency. Benazir Bhutto International Airport has been evacuated after a phone call saying the building would be blown up.
Sky’s Asia correspondent Alex Crawford said there had been at least two separate threats, and the country was in a state of “high anxiety”. The first threat came in a call to Pakistan International Airline’s call centre. The second threat was made to the media warning of attacks at airports across the country.
Islamabad – International airports in all major cities of Pakistan were put on alert following threats of suicide bombings by Islamic militants, officials and media reports said. A state of emergency was declared at Islamabad airport, which was recently named after slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, after a warning that a suicide bomber could strike the facility located just outside the capital city.
“There is no suicide bomber inside the airport but a threat still exits,” top civilian security official Rehman Malik was quoted as saying by the English-language DawnNews television channel.
Malik said overall security had also been enhanced at major airports across the country.
The government believes pro-Taliban militants based in the country’s tribal region near the Afghan border carried out the bombing in revenge for major offensives launched against them by the government forces.
DawnNews said the US embassy in Islamabad had suspended its consular services, including visa operations. Britain took similar action earlier this week and British Airways suspended its flights in and out of the country after the Marriott blast.
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama says if elected he would encourage India and Pakistan to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and resolve the Kashmir problem to reduce nuclear dangers in South Asia.
Obama said he would also “continue my work begun in the Senate to secure all dangerous weapons and materials against terrorist threats worldwide, including in South Asia.”
“I will encourage India and Pakistan to collaborate with IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) experts to maximise security at nuclear power plants and related facilities.
“Finally, I will continue support of ongoing Indian and Pakistani efforts to resolve the Kashmir problem in order to address the political roots of the arms race between India and Pakistan,” Obama said.
Arms Control Today said it had asked both major party presidential nominees to answer its questions on arms control and non-proliferation issues. But Republican presidential nominee John McCain did not respond.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
