Pakistani naval air base attack by militants

Pakistan on Monday regained control of a naval base in the country’s biggest city, 17 hours after heavily armed Taliban gunmen attacked, destroying two US-made surveillance planes and killing 10 personnel. It was the worst assault on a military base since the army headquarters was besieged in October 2009, piling further embarrassment on the armed forces three weeks after Osama bin Laden was found living under their noses. At least 8 navy and two rangers’ personnel are martyred in the attack. Four terrorists also killed. Army commandos cornered a team of terrorists in a naval base on Monday after the insurgents raided the complex the night before, destroying two US-supplied surveillance aircraft and killing at least 13 security officers, a navy spokesman said. Between 10 and 15 insurgents armed with grenades, rockets and automatic weapons stormed PNS Mehran late on Sunday before splitting into smaller groups, setting off explosions and hiding in the sprawling facility. The operation has ended but security officials are searching terrorists in the building. The raid was one of the most audacious in years of militant violence in Pakistan. The insurgent s ability to penetrate the high-security facility raised the possibility that they had inside help. At least 11 navy and two rangers personnel were killed, while 14 security officials were wounded, he said, adding that it was unclear how many militant casualties there were. This is the fourth major attack the group has claimed since the Bin Laden killing, including a car bombing that slightly injured American consulate workers in Peshawar and a twin-suicide attack that killed around 90 Pakistani paramilitary police recruits. The raid began with at least three loud explosions, which were heard by people who live around the naval air station. It was unclear what caused the explosions, but they set off raging fires that could be seen from far in the distance. The media teams outside the base heard at least six other explosions and sporadic gunfire. Authorities sent in several dozen navy and police commandos to battle the attackers, who responded with gunfire and grenades. At least two P-3C Orions, maritime surveillance aircraft given to Pakistan by the US, were destroyed, he said. The United States handed over two Orions to the Pakistan Navy at a ceremony at the base in June 2010 attended by 250 Pakistani and American officials. By late 2012, Pakistan would have eight of the planes. At least one media report said a team of American technicians were working on the aircraft at the time of the strike, but a US Embassy spokesman said no American was on the base. He also stated there were no foreigners inside the base.  Meanwhile, the naval chief, Noman Bashir, has called a high level meeting to discuss the situation. A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, who have stepped up attacks to avenge the May 2 death of bin Laden, said they had dispatched 15 to 20 suicide bombers equipped to fight for a week. “We had already warned after Osama’s martyrdom that we will carry out even bigger attacks,” Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location. Bin Laden was killed by US commandos in a garrison town north of Islamabad, in a raid that humiliated Pakistan’s security establishment. The militants’ attack deep inside Karachi underlined the military’s vulnerability. An AFP reporter heard blasts and intermittent barrages of gunfire on Monday, and helicopters flying overhead. Dozens of ambulances queued outside the base, which is about a few kilometres from Karachi’s international airport. Malik said 10 security personnel were killed, including one navy officer, three navy firemen, three navy commandos, a sailor and two paramilitary soldiers, and 15 others wounded. “They have destroyed two P-3C Orion aircraft,” said Navy spokesman Commander Salman Ali. The attack was also likely to raise further concerns about the safety of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, which reportedly number more than 100. The New York Times said that a mere 24 kilometres away from PNS Mehran, Pakistan was believed to keep a large depot for nuclear weapons that can be delivered from the air. Malik refused to acknowledge any security lapse, saying the “rapid”response had prevented bigger losses and adding that a security alert had been ordered across the country in large cities to guard against future attacks. Soon after the operation was over in Karachi a bomb blast damaged a bridge on the main highway linking the capital Islamabad to the northwestern city of Peshawar, but caused no casualties, police officer Quresh Khan told AFP. In October 2009, Taliban militants besieged the army headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi for two days, killing 22 people and raising serious questions over why it took the military so long to put down the assault. Karachi is Pakistan’s financial capital and the assault was the fourth on the navy in a month. Three bombings in late April killed nine people.