Truth Behind PNS Mehran Attack

KARACHI: Pakistan’s navy says it appears to have regained control of a basethat had been attacked and occupied by militants for more than 15 hours.

Spokesman Salman Ali said Monday commandos were still searching the sprawling facility in Karachi but that “apparently there is no more militant resistance.”

He says the navy would not release details on militant casualties until the base had been fully searched.

Taliban militants assaulted the headquarters of Pakistan’s naval air force, battling on Monday security forces in the most brazen attack in the country since the killing of Osama bin Laden, killing 13 people, injuring 16 others and blowing up at least two military aircraft.

The dead include 11 navy officials and one Ranger, DawnNews reported.

Blasts rang out and helicopters hovered above the PNS Mehran base near Shahrah-e-Faisal almost 14 hours after more than 20 Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants stormed the heavily guarded building with guns and grenades, blowing up at least two aircraft and casting doubt on the military’s ability to protect its installations.

The Pakistan Taliban, which is allied with al Qaeda, said the attack was to avenge the al Qaeda leader’s killing on May 2.

Bin Laden was shot dead by US special forces in a secret operation that Pakistan says breached its sovereignty.

“It was the revenge of martyrdom of Osama bin Laden. It was the proof that we are still united and powerful,” Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Trucks carrying military and paramilitary rangers streamed into the base in the southern city of Karachi in the morning, as security forces tried to end the siege.

A senior security official, who declined to be identified, said the militants had taken over a building in the base.

Another official stationed in the base said the militants had not taken any hostages, but added: “There is a chance that some terrorists have suicide belts or jackets.”

Sixteen military men were wounded in the attack, some reports said that at least three militants had been killed while trying to flee but nothing has been confirmed so far.

The base is 15 miles from the Masroor Air Base, Pakistan’s largest and a possible depot for nuclear weapons.

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

A spokesman said two P-3C Orion, maritime patrol aircraft, had been destroyed and that intermittent gunfire was continuing.

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 pipe but that was not confirmed. The military’s goal was to capture as many of the attackers alive as possible, television reported.

The attack evoked memories of an assault on Pakistan’s army headquarters in the city of Rawalpindi in 2009, and is a further embarrassment for the military, widely seen as the only properly functioning institution in Pakistan, in the wake of bin Laden’s killing.

The military has come under intense pressure from the United States and its own people for failing to know that bin Laden had been living in a garrison town, north of the capital and near a top military academy, for years, and also for allowing five US helicopters to penetrate Pakistan’s airspace and kill him.

Taliban militants assaulted the headquarters of Pakistan’s naval air force in Karachi,killing 13 people, injuring 16 others and blowing up at least two military aircraft.

The assault that started at 10:30 pm on Sunday at PNS Mehran base near Shahrah-e-Faisal ended 14 hours later, after more than 20 Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants stormed the heavily guarded building with guns and grenades.

Monday morning saw trucks carrying military and paramilitary rangers into the base as security forces battled to end the siege during which two P-3C Orion, maritime patrol aircraft, had been destroyed.

Sources said despite hesitation of the board of governors, the project was initiated as the then Punjab governor was interested in the college’s expansion.

However, after change of guard at the Governor’s House, some ex-Abdailians, who were against the expansion, succeeded in bringing the project to a halt. Some elements within the college were also not in favour of doubling the number of cadets in the college.

Despite many attempts, Principal Mohammed Asif Malik was not available for comments.

However, when contacted, Vice Principal Abdul Qayyum confirmed that the expansion project was not executed due to administrative and financial problems. He said the project was delayed as the board of governors meeting could not be held last year and no green signal was given for the execution of the project.Dawn

The surveillance aircraft were equipped with a variety of enhanced

The surveillance aircraft were equipped with a variety of enhanced
Lockheed-Martin’s P3C Orion is a four-engine turbo-prop, anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft. As a patrol aircraft, it has advanced submarine detection sensors such as directional frequency and ranging sonobuoys and magnetic anomaly detection equipment.
The planes can carry a mixed payload of weapons internally and on wing pylons. The aircraft is designed to have a single integrated tactical picture of the battle space, drawing upon data from aircraft sensors and information from other platforms.
The United States handed two P3C Orion aircraft to Pakistan Navy in late April 2010. By 2012 Pakistan Navy is expected to take delivery of a total of eight P3C aircraft.
Lockheed has upgraded the P-3Cs’ aircraft and mission systems and is providing maintenance under a 2006 contract from the US Navy’s Naval Air Systems Command.
According to Mike Fralen, director for Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors’ maritime surveillance programmes, these aircraft incorporate a variety of enhanced features including communications, electro-optic and infrared systems, data management, controls and displays, mission computers and acoustic processing.