KARACHI - a group of militants was concealed within the Pakistan naval aviation base Monday, six hours after they stormed the installation with rifles and grenades, killing at least five people and do blow up a military plane.
Nine explosions were reported of PNS Mehran base in the South of the city of Karachi after late-night assault by armed men up to 15, which targeted three hangars housing aircraft.
"They were carrying guns, hand grenades and rockets (RPG)." "They hit the aircraft with an RPG," said marine spokesman Commander Salman Ali. "They are still inside of the base".
Eleven people were injured in the attack on one of the most heavily guarded military facilities in the country, where the jet fuel tanks seem to have caught fire and exploded.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the raid. But the Taliban militants, who have vowed to avenge the death of bin Laden, by American special forces, have led several attacks since the death of al Qaeda leaders on May 2.
The assault began at about 10: 30 a.m. Sunday, and it took about four hours before most of the fire is extinguished and the filming had decreased. Security forces then swept the basis for the aggressors.
Navy spokesman Mohammad Yasir "terrorists are still there and place the resistance", told Reuters.
The dead included a sailor, three firefighters and a ranger army, said Yasser.
The Karachi attack evokes memories of assault on the staff of the Pakistani army in the city of Rawalpindi in 2009 and brings concerns that even facilities more Park in the country remain vulnerable to the militants.
A spokesman said a P - 3 c Orion maritime patrol aircraft, had been destroyed and that of intermittent gunfire was continuous.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that militants had attacked from the rear of the base. "We have been able to limit them to one building and an operation is underway to kill or capture."
Media reports said the attackers had made their way into a sewer line, but that has not been confirmed. The military objective is to capture as much live attackers as possible, Pakistan television reported.
Military and paramilitary reinforcements Pakistan poured after the attack began, with four vehicles carrying troops about 10 each movement in the base.
Spokesman Ali said that no foreigner is based.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani condemned the attack.
"Such a cowardly act of terror could not deter the commitment made by the Government and the people of Pakistan to fight terrorism," Gilani said in the statement.
WAVE OF BOMBINGS
Pakistan has faced a wave of bombings and gun fire assaults over the past few years, some of them claimed by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or the Pakistani Taliban.
Others have attributed to militant groups linked to al-Qaida once fed by the Pakistan army who have slipped since out of control.
The discovery that bin Laden was alive in the city of garrison of Abbottabad, not far from the Military Academy of Pakistan, revived the suspicion that militants receive assistance of some people in the security of telecommunications.
Pakistan and the United States say that senior leaders of the country did not know that bin Laden was in Abbottabad.
Washington sees Pakistan nuclear as a key, if troubled, ally in the region critical to its attempts to root out militant forces in the neighbouring countries of Afghanistan.
"We condemn the attack and our sympathy is with the families of those injured or killed," the White House in Washington said in a statement.
On 28 April, suspected militants detonated a bomb in Karachi, killing four members of the Navy, the third attack on the Navy in a week.
The attack came two days after two bombs hit a bus carrying soldiers of the Navy, in killing four people and injuring 56. Taliban insurgents took responsibility for the twin attacks.
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