Sir: The attack on Karachi airport was contained but it could easily have ended up becoming an even greater tragedy, if say one of the terrorists had managed to get near a fully fuelled passenger plane. The loss of life, already terrible, would have been hideous and the destruction of millions of dollars worth of equipment and infrastructure is something this country can hardly afford. We already suffered the loss of an Orion PC-3 reconnaissance plane in the attack on PNS Mehran in 2011, which was worth round $ 35 million. Karachi is bound to lose air traffic from this incident as well, since which foreign airline is going to willing to risk tens of millions of dollars of hardware just to land in a country hardly anyone wants to visit anyway. Karachi is in a bad state and terrorism is one of the biggest problems in this city. Religious and sectarian groups multiply like flies, murders are a daily occurrence, people are scared, business, in fact daily life, is grinding to a halt. Now after the attack on the airport it feels like this whole city is under siege and people have no place to go. This is a catastrophe, mentally and physically, for the people of Karachi, and nothing short of complete victory over the terrorists and sectarian militants will make the sacrifices of Karachiites worthwhile. SABA FAZAL CHAUDHRY Karachi