Pakistan Military Airbase Under Attack!

[S2]

Zraver Reply

"ISI jihadi puppets unleashed to target an asset that will make Americans think Pakistan is really in the fight, but targeted so it looks like RAW is behind it since losing P-3's benefits India's strategic picture. Probably also had sensitive equipment removed before hand for sale to China since the chain of custody is now shattered."

Very, very speculative.

Just as likely that some TTP element was able to contact and presuade/coerce some low-level base personnel into facilitating entry. What's happened here is unknown. The Pakistanis don't know. Nobody really does and likely never shall.

The only thing clear to me is a reasonably well-planned, well-executed sabotage op.

[indian]

Airbase Pics

Mostly done with insider help
pics:courtesy Bharat-Rakshak

[indian]

http://http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/wor...-asia-13495127

BBC is saying there is a hostage situation there with foreign nationals

[Double Edge]

It appears that they penetrated through the sewage system. The attackers knew the base very well and were able to quickly navigate to the hangars where the air assets were parked.

How helpful would the cleaning staff be for this ?

Enough to get a general layout of the place.

[Julie]

Homegrown militants and how uncontrolable the situation is becoming in the last few days with attacks on Police, Army and now Navy installations, i can move to another thread Julie and delete from this one if you think more suitable.:)

Just wanted it stated for the record. You can proceed here. :)

[notorious_eagle]

- 11 Pakistan Naval Soldiers killed, 3 Pakistan Rangers killed
- 4 terrorists captured, 6 killed

I honestly cant believe the utter incompetence of the Pakistan Navy, in a matter of hours 1/3 of Pakistan's ASW capability has been destroyed.

[Kasrkin]

I've been to these facilities, security was very tight and that was in better times. Security has been beefed up everywhere now. On the other it is a massive place with airfields and hangers seated in the middle of a massive city, so that would have helped with infiltration. The dedication and sophistication of these terrorists is impressive. Very embarrassing for the Pakistani Military nevertheless. Demonstrates a failure of intelligence as well as perimeter security.

[Kasrkin]

RUSI - Implications of the Karachi attack

[zraver]

"ISI jihadi puppets unleashed to target an asset that will make Americans think Pakistan is really in the fight, but targeted so it looks like RAW is behind it since losing P-3's benefits India's strategic picture. Probably also had sensitive equipment removed before hand for sale to China since the chain of custody is now shattered."

Very, very speculative.

Just as likely that some TTP element was able to contact and presuade/coerce some low-level base personnel into facilitating entry. What's happened here is unknown. The Pakistanis don't know. Nobody really does and likely never shall.

The only thing clear to me is a reasonably well-planned, well-executed sabotage op.

of course it is, but watch over the next several days my post will reflect the various theories that begin to bubble up depending on what faction the poster favors. India and the US will blame the ISI, Pakistan will blame Indian supported afghanis and baluch terrorists and we both know the USN is worried about what might be sent to China.

[drhuy]

geez, now they said there were only 4-6 militants. who said Taliban cant have their own 'SEAL'

[Dreadnought]

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistani commandos regained control of a naval base Monday from a team of Taliban militants who attacked then occupied the high-security facility for 18 hours - an exceptionally audacious act of insurgent violence that dealt a humiliating blow to the military.

The attackers - thought to number around six - destroyed at least two U.S.-supplied surveillance planes and killed 10 security officers, officials said. At least four of the attackers were killed, and two others may have escaped, said Pakistan Navy chief Nauman Bashir.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault in the city of Karachi. The militants said it was revenge for the May 2 American raid that killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden, and the insurgents were under orders to fight until the death.

"They do not want to come out alive, they have gone there to embrace martyrdom," said spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan.


The insurgent team armed with grenades, rockets and automatic weapons stormed Naval Station Mehran under cover of darkness late Sunday, using ladders and cutting the wire to get into the facility, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said.

Once inside, they scattered around the compound, setting off explosions and hiding in the sprawling facility.

During the day Monday, the militants were holed up in an office building in a gunbattle with commandos, navy spokesman Irfan ul Haq said. Navy helicopters flew over the base, and snipers were seen on a runway control tower.

By the afternoon, Haq said the militants had been defeated. "Thanks be to God, the base is cleared and the operation is over," he said. Commandos leaving the complex flashed victory signs to reporters.

Malik said he saw some of the bodies of the attackers, even showing a picture of one lying bloodied on the grass that he took with his cell phone. He said the were dressed in black and looked "like the Star Wars characters."


Six Americans and 11 Chinese aviation engineers were on the base but escaped unharmed, he said.

The insurgents' ability to penetrate the facility rattled a military establishment already embarrassed by the unilateral American raid on bin Laden and raised the possibility they had inside help.

It will also likely lead to more questions over the safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons. In 2009, Islamist terrorists stormed army headquarters close to the capital, holding hostages for 22 hours. But unlike the attack Sunday in Karachi, the attackers then failed to deeply penetrate the complex.

The unilateral U.S. raid on bin Laden's compound in the northwest Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad has triggered a strong backlash against Washington, as well as rare domestic criticism of the armed forces for failing to detect or prevent the American operation. Pakistani leaders insist they had no idea the al-Qaida boss had been hiding in Abbottabad.

This is the third major attack the group has claimed since the bin Laden killing. The others were a car bombing that slightly injured American consulate workers in the northwest city of Peshawar and a twin suicide attack that killed around 90 Pakistani paramilitary police recruits.

At least two P-3C Orions, maritime surveillance aircraft given to Pakistan by the U.S., were destroyed, he said. The U.S. Navy puts the cost of the planes at $36 million each.

The United States handed over two Orions to the Pakistani navy at a ceremony at the base in June 2010 attended by 250 Pakistani and American officials, according to the website of the U.S. Central Command. It said by late 2012, Pakistan would have eight of the planes.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Alberto Rodriguez said the Americans were working as contractors to help support the P-3C aircraft but did not report to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate. Four of them were part of a Lockheed Martin contract engineering and technical support team, he said.

Karachi, a city of around 18 million people, has not been spared the violence sweeping the country, despite being in the south and far from the northwest where militancy is at its strongest. In April, militants bombed three buses taking navy employees to work, killing at least nine people.

The Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups have little direct public support, but the army and the government have struggled to convince the people of the need for armed operations against them. The militants' identification with Islam, strong anti-American rhetoric and support for insurgents in Afghanistan resonates with some in the country.

Also Monday, Pakistani intelligence officials said a pair of suspected U.S. missiles hit a vehicle and killed four people near the Afghan border. It was the latest in an uptick of strikes following the bin Laden raid.

The attack occurred in Machi Khel area in North Waziristan, a tribal region home to several militant groups attacking U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The U.S. relies heavily on missile strikes to target foes in Pakistan. Pakistan objects to the attacks publicly, but is believed to support them in private.

The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters. They said they did not know the identities of the people killed.

iWon News - Pakistani troops retake naval base from militants

[diablo49]

2 escaped!? Jesus.

[citanon]

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistani commandos regained control of a naval base Monday from a team of Taliban militants who attacked then occupied the high-security facility for 18 hours - an exceptionally audacious act of insurgent violence that dealt a humiliating blow to the military.

The attackers - thought to number around six - destroyed at least two U.S.-supplied surveillance planes and killed 10 security officers, officials said. At least four of the attackers were killed, and two others may have escaped, said Pakistan Navy chief Nauman Bashir.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault in the city of Karachi. The militants said it was revenge for the May 2 American raid that killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden, and the insurgents were under orders to fight until the death.

"They do not want to come out alive, they have gone there to embrace martyrdom," said spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan.


The insurgent team armed with grenades, rockets and automatic weapons stormed Naval Station Mehran under cover of darkness late Sunday, using ladders and cutting the wire to get into the facility, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said.

Once inside, they scattered around the compound, setting off explosions and hiding in the sprawling facility.

Just six of them, got in with ladders and wire cutters, and 2 might have escaped?!!

[Dreadnought]

Another source:

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- At least 10 members of Pakistan's military were killed in a gun battle with Taliban militants at a naval base in the coastal city of Karachi, authorities said Monday.

The clashes raged for hours after attackers with guns and grenades stormed the compound Sunday night. By Monday afternoon, the base had "been cleared from the terrorists," a Pakistani navy spokesman said.

In addition to the 10 dead, at least 15 other Pakistani troops were wounded in the fighting, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said.

Investigators have found the bodies of three attackers and believe a fourth is buried in debris, he said. They suspect two militants escaped, he said, citing witness reports.

The Pakistani Taliban said the attack at the Mehran naval air station was to avenge the killing of innocent civilians. The group's spokesman, Ihsan Ullah, told CNN on Monday that Pakistani security forces are carrying out those killings on the instruction of the United States in the name of a "war on terror."

One of the attackers had detonated a suicide jacket, Malik said, and another one was found wearing an undetonated jacket.

"We have daily 9/11 in this country. You see how we are suffering," he said. "And therefore, this is my appeal to the international community ... trust us, trust us, because this is a time we need you to support us morally."

Authorities said militants wielding rocket launchers, automatic weapons and hand grenades attacked the base about 11 p.m. Sunday. They used ladders to scale a wall at the back of the base and jumped into the compound, Malik said.

Two witnesses -- Amjad Bashir and Talha Hashmi -- reported at least 10 explosions in the subsequent hours.

Each blast was typically followed by a sustained exchange of gunfire, Hashmi said.

He said that several of the explosions -- thought to be the result of two military aircraft and a fuel tank catching fire and releasing plumes of smoke -- were particularly large.

The attackers destroyed two P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft sold by the United States to Pakistan, Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said. Six American contractors at the base during the attack moved to safety and were not injured, he said.

The nation's military personnel responded with what an Malik called a "major operation" at the base, which is about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Karachi's main airport.

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.

The Pakistani Taliban represents a confederation of Taliban groups in northwestern Pakistan, where they are based. The group, which is headquartered in Quetta, is separate from the Afghan Taliban, which has been focused on re-establishing the Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan. Both groups swear allegiance to Taliban leader Mullah Omar and have close ties to al Qaeda.

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 were injured when a hand grenade exploded at a gambling club in the southern Pakistani city.

The grenade was tossed into the club by one of two unidentified people riding past the facility on a motorbike, according to Javed Baloch, a senior police official in Karachi.

The Taliban said it was behind an April 28 roadside bombing on a main road through Karachi that left at least five dead and 10 injured.

Two days earlier, three were killed and more than 30 wounded when remote-controlled bombs detonated near two buses carrying Pakistani navy officials.

10 Pakistani troops killed in gun battle at naval base - CNN.com

[siddharth]

Pakistan is gonna be in deep shit. America probably understands that if militants climb up a ladder and light up a country's important naval base, the nukes aren't too far down the road. And also the army and air force bases.