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Monday 23 May 2011

TALIBAB ATTACK ON PAK MOST GUARDED AIR FORCE BASE

14 SOLDIERS KILLED  & 2 AIRCRAFTS DESTROYED

..Live: Pakistan navy base attack: Gun battle still on

Mon, May 23, 2011
........An overnight battle with militants at Pakistan's naval aviation base erupted again after dawn on Monday, with blasts ringing out and choppers hovering overhead as security forces launched a counter-offensive.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the brazen attack on the base by 15-20 gunmen, saying it was to avenge the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on May 2. Refresh this page for latest updates



3:15 pm: 'Pak insiders helped plan navy base attack'

Terming the Taliban attack on the Mehran naval air base as a "big security lapse", Pakistani defense and political analysts on Monday said that "insiders" were facilitating the militants in their deadly agenda and asked the government and military to wake up to this.

The daring attack by the armed militants, who used rockets, grenades and heavy ammunition, has raised serious doubt over the military's ability to protect its key installations.

"It is a worrying thing this attack and is nothing but a serious security lapse on part of the navy," Air Vice Marshal (retd) Shahzad Chaudhary, a defence analyst said.


3:00 pm: 15-hour siege at Pakistani naval base ends

Pakistani commandos killed four terrorists and arrested four others after a fierce 15-hour gunbattle at a naval base, PNS Mehran, in Karachi on Monday. A Pakistan Navy spokesperson said that the resistance by the terrorists at the base appeared to be over and final search operation was under way.

The brazen attack, targeting one of the Pakistan's most well-guarded military installations last night has reportedly left at least 12 dead and 14 injured.

A 'Geo News' report said that fake ID Cards with monogram of security forces were recovered from the arrested terrorists while four terrorists killed themselves in a blast. Reports also said that the terrorists were in grey and black clothes and not in military uniform.

Reports claim that more than 10 terrorists entered the high security base at 10:40 pm on Sunday night and set two patrol planes on fire. Reports say 24 explosions were heard at the spot.


2:00 pm: Pakistan naval base siege close to an end

Troops battled Taliban gunmen holed up in Pakistan's naval air force headquarters on Monday after the most audacious attack in the unstable, nuclear-armed country since the killing of Osama bin Laden.

Blasts rang out and helicopters hovered above the PNS Mehran base in the city of Karachi, nearly 12 hours after more than 20 Pakistani Taliban militants stormed the building with guns and grenades, blowing up at least one aircraft.

However, security officials and a senior minister said the operation appeared to be coming to an end. Read more


1:30 pm: 4 militants blew themselves, 12 martyred

Gunmen armed with rockets and explosives stormed Pakistan Navy airbase, destroying two US-made two P-3C Orion aircraft surveillance aircraft and killing 12 security personnel.

Geo News correspondent reported from the vicinity of PNS Mehran that four militants blew themselves up, while the security forces have arrested four other militants. The Geo TV report


1:00 pm: Violent incidents in Pakistan since Osama's killing

Here's a timeline of violent incidents in Pakistan since the May 2 killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in a US commandos operation in Abbottabad


12:40 pm: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani constantly remained in touch with the security authorities regarding the clearing up operation at PNS Mehran, after some terrorists managed to sneak into the naval base last night.

PM Gilani contacted the Naval Chief Admiral Nauman Bashir early in the morning, who informed that the operation was moving in right direction and soon the naval security forces will have complete control over the situation.

12:30 pm: Chinese among hostages at Karachi navy base

Chinese military personnel are among the hostages taken by terrorists who stormed a Pakistani naval facility here, a media report said Monday.

BBC reported that the rebels, who struck at PNS Mehran, were holding hostages, including Chinese military personnel.

Xinhua said the terrorist have retreated into a building within the base and are holding an unknown number of hostages as human shield to fight back the navy commandos, Rangers and security personnel who have been deployed to flush them out.


12:25 pm: A Geo News report said that fake ID Cards with monogram of security forces were recovered from the arrested terrorists while four terrorists killed themselves in a blast. Reports also said that the terrorists were in grey and black clothes and not in military uniform.

Search operations are still on to locate any more terrorists who may have been involved in the attack.

12:05 pm: Pakistan's Geo News reports from the vicinity of Pakistan Navy base that four militants blew themselves up, while the security forces have arrested four other militants.

The report also said that the arrested terrorists camouflaged themselves with dark dresses and fake cards have been recovered from them. Four security personnel who participated in the operation against militants have come out of the base.


11:50 am: Chicago trial puts ISI in spotlight amid Pak terror drama

They go back a long way to the 1970s, buddies and colleagues at a military school, Hasan Abdal Cadet College, in Pakistan. From there, their lives took different trajectories. Tahawwur Hussain Rana went to medical school and became a businessman running a store-front immigration enterprise in Chicago. Daood Gilani, aka David Coleman Headley, dabbled in pubs, drugs, and multiple relationships, and became an informant for US law enforcement.

But the two pals rarely lost touch with each other. When Headley was arrested on drug-trafficking charges in 1988 and 1997, Rana put up his house as bond. When Rana ran into financial trouble in 2005, Headley loaned him $ 60,000. Shortly before the Mumbai attack, Headley, with his wife and children, visited the Ranas in Chicago and stayed with them -- for 20 days.  TOI has the full story


11:35 am: Taliban leader Mullah Omar killed?


Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has been killed in Pakistan, Xinhua cited a private television channel as stating Monday.

'Mullah Omar was killed on way from Quetta to North Waziristan,' Afghanistan's TOLO television stated.

However, it did not provide details on how he was killed and by whom. Meanwhile, a security official confirmed the killing, saying: 'It is correct that Mullah Omar has been killed.' But he did not disclose details.

Omar was considered the spiritual leader of the Taliban movement that operates in parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. He was Afghanistan's de facto head of state from 1996 to late 2001 and had the title 'Head of the Supreme Council'.


11:25 am: According to the Pakistani navy's website, the Mehran base "is efficiently supporting day and night operational activities of all (naval aviation) squadrons." A host of courses are also offered on its grounds, from helicopter and air navigation instruction to sea survival.

11:20 am: Pakistan's nuclear weapons, safe or not?

An assault on a naval base in Karachi is the latest militant attack on military installations in Pakistan, raising fears about the safety of the country's nuclear arsenal.

Pakistan has the fastest growing nuclear arsenal in the world and in a decade could pass France as the fourth-largest nuclear power, so such brazen attacks on secure military establishments -- militants also attacked the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi in 2009 -- give Western leaders nightmares about militants acquiring nuclear materials, or worse, an entire weapon. Pakistan's nuclear weapons, safe or not?

11:15 am:  Karachi, which is considered the main commercial hub of Pakistan, has seen a drastic increase in political, ethnic and religious violence in recent months.

Just over three weeks ago, three people were killed and at least 20 others were injured when a hand grenade exploded at a gambling club in the southern Pakistani city.

11:10 am: Why terrorists targeted the Pak naval base

Senior analyst B Raman explains the real motive behind the daring terrorist strike on a Pakistan military base in Karachi.


11:05 am: Meanwhile, a secret assessment of the ‘The Gangs of Karachi’ by then US consul general Stephen Fakan in April 2009 reveals that the police are only one of several armed groups in Pakistan and probably not the most numerous or best equipped.

The assessment focuses on the Pakistan People’s Party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Awami National Party, Muhajir Qaumi Movement (H), Sunni Tehreek and “Pashtun terrorists”, besides some armed gangs operating in Lyari and other parts of this megapolis. It states that “the PPP’s decision to include MQM in coalition governments in Sindh and at the centre has helped preclude a return to the PPP-MQM violence of the 1990s. But the potential for MQM-ANP conflict is growing as Pashtuns challenge Muhajir political dominance and vie for control of key economic interests, such as the lucrative trucking industry. Read full report on dawn.com

11:00 am: "We condemn the attack and our sympathies are with the families of those injured or killed," the White House said in a statement.

10:45 am: The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have claimed responsibility for the brazen attack on the base by 15-20 gunmen, saying it was to avenge the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on May 2.

10:30 am: Maritime surveillance plane P-3C Orion destroyed in attack


10:15 am: The BBC says this attack will be deeply embarrassing for Pakistan

10:00 am: A fierce gun battle continues at a military base PNS Mehran on Monday morning in Karachi after terrorists attacked the base on Sunday night. Reports say that two terrorists have been killed.

9:30 am: Eleven people were wounded in the attack on one of the country's most heavily guarded military installations, where jet fuel tanks appeared to have caught fire and exploded.

Those killed in the assault, which started at around 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, included a sailor, three firefighters and an Army ranger.

"They were carrying guns, rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) and hand grenades. They hit the aircraft with an RPG," Navy spokesman Commander Salman Ali said.

The Karachi attack evoked memories of an assault on Pakistan's army headquarters in the town of Rawalpindi in 2009, and revived concerns that even the most well-guarded installations in the country remain vulnerable to militants.

A spokesman said one P-3C Orion, a maritime patrol aircraft, had been destroyed and that intermittent gunfire was continuing.
Gunmen storm Pakistan navy air base
Gunmen attack Pakistan's naval aviation base killing several people and destroying at least one military aircraft.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said earlier that the militants had attacked from the rear of the base.

"We have been able to confine them to one building and an operation is underway either to kill or capture them," he said.

Media reports said the attackers had made their way in through a sewer line, but that was not confirmed. The military's goal was to capture as many of the attackers alive as possible, Pakistan television reported.

Pakistani military and paramilitary reinforcements poured in after the attack began, with four vehicles carrying about 10 troops each moving into the base.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani condemned the attack.

"Such a cowardly act of terror could not deter the commitment of the government and people of Pakistan to fight terrorism," Gilani said in statement.

WAVE OF BOMBINGS

Pakistan has faced a wave of bombings and gun assaults over the last few years, some of them claimed by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Pakistani Taliban.

Others have been blamed on al Qaeda-linked militant groups once nurtured by the Pakistani military which have since slipped out of control.

The TTP, which has links with al Qaeda, is led by Hakimullah Mehsud, a brutal militant commander whose fighters regularly clash with the Pakistan army in the northwest of the country.

It also claimed responsibility for being behind the botched plot to bomb New York's Times Square last year.

The discovery that bin Laden was living in the garrison town of Abbottabad, not far from the Pakistan Military Academy, has revived suspicions that militants may be receiving help from some people within the security establishment.
Pakistan and the United States say the senior leadership in the country did not know bin Laden was in Abbottabad.

Washington sees nuclear-armed Pakistan as a key, if troubled, ally in the region essential to its attempts to root out militant forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.

On April 28, suspected militants detonated a roadside bomb in Karachi, killing four members of the navy, the third attack on the navy in a week..
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