Karachi:Four terrorists also among killed as gunfight at PNS Mehran continues.According to sources, 10 to 15 terrorists stormed into the PNS Mehran building and exploded several bombs and opened indiscriminate firing, targeting the aircraft and ammunition depot.At least eight navy personnel and a Rangers official have been killed while 11 others were injured. Four terrorists were also killed in the gunfight with security forces. Two US-supplied surveillance aircraft were also destroyed in the attack.The exchange of fire at the Naval Station has still been continued, a navy spokesman said. He said the navy helicopters were flying over the base in search of the attackers.
“Because of the presence of several assets on the base, the operation is being carried out in a cautious way,” he said, referring to military aircraft. “That s why it s taking so long.”The coordinated strike rocked the city just under three weeks after the May 2 death of Osama bin Laden.
Meanwhile, the naval chief, Noman Bashir, has called a high level meeting to discuss the situation.
Eight security personnel were reported dead in the operation to flush out the terrorists who, according to officials, were holed up in a three-storeyed office block of the premises. Though there was no confirmation of a hostage situation, the duration of the siege gave rise to speculation of such a possibility.
Since this facility is used for training officers from overseas, the possibility of foreigners being held captive was being talked about by the media but again there was no confirmation. Reporters at the spot said they saw people with “Chinese-like features” being taken out of the facility soon after the attack started; triggering speculation of some being held hostage inside.
According to federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik, terrorists entered the high-security naval airbase from three directions and carried out simultaneous attacks on different targets. Two PC-3 Orion aircraft – which the Pakistan Navy is said to have acquired from the U.S. just a year ago — were destroyed in the attack.
Initial reports suggested that a dozen terrorists entered the facility and set off the first explosion around 10-30 p.m. The fires triggered by the explosions raged well past midnight. At least a dozen explosions were heard inside the fortified premises but it was not clear if they were triggered by the terrorists or were a case of the fire setting of combustible material that can be found aplenty in any aviation facility.
Punctuated with spells of silence, the gun battle between the terrorists and security personnel – including SSG commandos and Pakistan Marines – continued through the night and no civilian force was allowed access into Pakistan Navy’s first Naval Air Station. Ambulances which rushed to the spot were also kept waiting outside first and allowed in midway between the operation.
With the area being a restricted one, no media was allowed in and the first confirmation of this being a terrorist strike came from Mr. Malik around midnight. Since the naval facility is adjacent to the Faisal base of the Air Force, there was confusion initially about which facility had been attacked.
This is the third time that the Pakistan Navy has come under attack over the past month in Karachi alone; the earlier two being on buses ferrying naval personnel to work. Given these earlier attacks on the Navy, questions were being asked in the media and on blogosphere about security at such facilities. One tweet on the micro-blog Twitter said: “Gazillions spent, security lapses continue. Might as well divert the funds to development and human servicing.
