Pakistani troops retake naval base
Officials say only six militants were involved
KARACHI, Pakistan – Pakistani commandos recaptured a major naval base from Taliban attackers after a bloody and humiliating 18-hour standoff that raised questions about militant infiltration in the security services and the safety of the volatile country’s nuclear warheads.
The unusually brazen assault, which the Taliban said was to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden, was a reminder that the Pakistanis are catching blame from both sides in the aftermath of the May 2 raid by U.S. commandos.
While Americans have accused elements in the Pakistani security services of having sheltered bin Laden in the military town of Abbottabad, the Taliban and al-Qaida fault the army for its level of cooperation with the Americans. It was the third purported revenge strike in Pakistan since bin Laden’s death.
After initially estimating that 15 insurgents were involved in the attack that began late Sunday in the country’s commercial capital, Karachi, officials said just six heavily armed, black-clad assailants penetrated into the heart of the Naval Station Mehran after cutting through wire in a quiet section of its eastern perimeter.
The militants destroyed two U.S.-supplied surveillance aircraft and killed at least five navy officers, two paramilitary rangers and three firefighters. Six Americans and 11 Chinese aviation engineers escaped unharmed, authorities said.
Four attackers were killed – one apparently blew himself up – but two managed to escape, said Pakistan navy chief Nauman Bashir.
After blowing up the aircraft the insurgents inside the base managed to evade death or capture into Monday by splitting up and firing on marines and commandos sent to catch them.
Toward early afternoon, the militants were holed up in an office building as navy helicopters flew over the base, and snipers were seen on a runway control tower. A final crack of automatic weapon fire rang out, and the navy soon declared victory.
The base, the home of the Pakistan navy’s air arm, is part of the much larger Faisal air base, and is surrounded by residential and commercial areas. Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the attackers were aged between 20 and 25 and the plot was hatched in the Waziristan area close to Afghanistan, from where most of the attackers inside Pakistan – and many in Afghanistan – are believed to train and get shelter.