A group of heavily-armed militants on Thursday stormed a key Pakistan Air Force base in Punjab province that is believed to house nuclear weapons, triggering an intense gun battle that left six attackers and two security personnel dead.
The terrorists, some of whom were reportedly wearing military uniforms, sneaked into Kamra airbase at about 2 am despite a state of high alert at the facility. About nine to 10 attackers breached at least three barriers and tried to target Saab-2000 surveillance aircraft, TV news channels reported.
Following a gun battle that lasted over three hours, state-run PTV reported that six terrorists had been gunned down by commandos.
Private TV news channels reported two security personnel were killed and several others, including an Air Commodore, were injured.
The military’s media arm told reporters that the situation at the Kamra airbase was under control and that troops were conducting a search operation to ascertain if any more terrorists were inside the complex.
There was no official word on whether some attackers had escaped. The attack came just two days after Pakistan Army chief Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani reiterated the country’s commitment to the war on terrorism.
Amidst speculation about a new campaign against the Taliban in the tribal belt, Kayani said the war on terrorism was Pakistan’s “own war and a just war too”.
The brazen assault was described by experts as a serious security lapse as The Express Tribune newspaper had reported on August 10 that the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan could target PAF facilities in Punjab before Eid-ul-Fitr. Citing intelligence reports, the daily reported that militants could carry out attacks on the 27th or 28th of the Islamic month of Ramzan or August 16 and 17.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest in a string of brazen assaults on Pakistani military installations.
In the past, militants linked to the Pakistani Taliban have attacked the army’s General Headquarters in Rawalpindi and a key naval airbase in the port city of Karachi.
Several Western media reports in the past have said that nuclear weapons are based at the Kamra complex, which is home to an airbase and the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex that assembles JF-17 combat jets and drones.
As troops conducted a search operation within the airbase, residents of nearby areas were told to remain within their homes. Large contingents of police and army soldiers cordoned off the area.
Shortly after the attack began, Geo News channel quoted its sources as saying that the attackers could have had help from elements within the airbase.
The terrorists reportedly entered the airbase from Pind Suleman Makhan, a village adjoining the PAF facility.
The PAF sought help from the army, and troops from an elite anti-terrorism commando unit in the garrison city of Rawalpindi were dispatched to Kamra. Witnesses told the media they had heard intense firing and several explosions from within the airbase. A PAF spokesman said explosives were strapped to the body of one attacker. He said the attackers were engaged by two teams of commandoes. The Kamra complex and its personnel have been targeted by terrorists several times in the past.
On October 23, 2009, seven persons were killed when a suicide bomber struck a check post outside the airbase.
Nine persons were injured when another suicide bomber targeted a military school bus outside the Kamra airbase in December 2007.
–PTI