PAKISTAN: Pakistani troops appear to be winning battle to end Taliban siege of naval air force headquarters in Karachi

Record ID: 353058

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Pakistani troops appear to be winning battle to end Taliban siege of naval air force headquarters in Karachi
  • Date: 24th May 2011
  • Summary: KARACHI , PAKISTAN (MAY 23 , 2011) (REUTERS) AIRCRAFT PARKED INSIDE BASE JEEP PARKED SHED INSIDE BASE TRAIN PASSING OUTSIDE BASE AVIATION TOWER VARIOUS OF DUMMY OF AIRCRAFT MOUNTED ON CEMENT BASE INSIDE BASE COMPOUND OF ARMY AVIATION VEHICLES CARRYING COMMANDOS PASSING BY VARIOUS OF BURNT AIRCRAFT IN COMPOUND OF ARMY AVIATION BUILDING WIDE OF ARMY AVIATION BUILDIN
  • Embargoed: 8th June 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan, Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVA7G5R43672SDAKXHAEPZ4BSDJH
  • Story Text: Troops appeared to be ending a Taliban siege of Pakistan's naval air force headquarters on Monday (May 23).
    More than 20 Pakistani Taliban gunmen stormed the PNS Mehran base in the city of Karachi on Sunday (May 22), blowing up at least one aircraft and battling troops for more than 12 hours.
    Security officials, however, said the operation was in the final stage and Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters that a major area in the base had been cleared.
    The assault casts fresh doubt on the Pakistani military's ability to protect its bases following an attack on the army headquarters in the city of Rawalpindi in 2009, and is a further embarrassment following the surprise raid by U.S. special forces on the al Qaeda leader's hideout north of Islamabad on May 2.
    The Pakistan Taliban, which is allied with al Qaeda, said the attack was to avenge bin Laden's death.
    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.
    Sporadic bouts of heavy gunfire erupted from the base as security forces battled to end the siege. Twelve military personnel were killed and 14 wounded in the assault that started at 10.30 p.m. on Sunday (1730 GMT), a navy spokesman said.
    A spokesman said one P-3C Orion, a maritime patrol aircraft, had been destroyed and that intermittent gunfire was continuing.
    Media reports said the attackers had made their way in through a sewer pipe but that was not confirmed.
    The base is 15 miles (24 km) from the Masroor Air Base, Pakistan's largest and a possible depot for nuclear weapons.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register