Many were on Saturday thrown into panic as suspected terrorists attacked the Kaduna International Airport located in the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The suspected insurgents numbering over 200 were said to have taken over the airport and killed one security officer of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency.

The attack, it was gathered forced the airport authority to temporarily shut down activities, while the military battled the suspected terrorists.

A source disclosed that the terrorists insisted on shutting down the airport, adding that the workers attached to the airport left their duty posts over fear of being attacked by the assailants.

It was further gathered that an aircraft scheduled to take off for Lagos at 12:30pm could not fly as a result of the presence of the terrorists at the runway of the airport.

It was learned that most of the workers at Kaduna International Airport had fled before more military personnel were deployed to the airport.

READ ALSO: Kaduna govt alerts residents on explosive devices planted by terrorists

“They started attacking the Airport around midnight. The soldiers were able to repel them that midnight and we thought that was all. In fact, our workers resumed work this morning as usual till around 12:00 pm.

“Then, shortly after that, some NAMA workers went to check some of their equipment, then these bandits appeared and started shooting.

“The NAMA engineers scampered for safety, they could not even go and enter the vehicle that took them to the site. It was in the process that their security man was shot in the head.

“The security man was rushed to the hospital and he was confirmed dead.

“As I am talking to you now, the soldiers are still battling those bandits, and they are proving difficult to be repelled. Now, they had shut down the airport,” PUNCH quoted the source as saying.

Meanwhile, neither the state government nor the police had confirmed the attack as of the time of filing this report.

The Star