Militants rattle Pakistan with air base attack that leaves 43 dead

But he said in a tweet that a group of militants attacked a mosque within the camp compound and killed 16 people offering dawn prayers.

The attackers stormed the guard room of the base, but the attack was quickly repulsed, said army spokesman Maj.

Eventually, all 13 terrorists were shot and killed before they could penetrate “deep” into the compound, Bajwa said.

The Pakistani military has carried out air strikes against suspected militant targets near the Afghan border, a day after the Pakistani Taliban killed 29 people in a raid on an air base.

Security forces were engaged in clearing up operations and were searching for militants who might be hiding in the area.

The Pakistani army is now carrying out a major operation against militants in North Waziristan, which borders Pakistan.

MWC News’ Syed Shah, reporting from Peshawar, said Banned Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan has claimed responsibility for the attack. Last December more than 150 people were killed when Taliban gunmen attacked an army-run school. The final main assault within the metropolis got here in February when three closely armed Taliban militants stormed a Shiite mosque, killing 21 individuals. The military said that the dead included 13 terrorists, army captain and three PAF technicians.

The attack took worshippers by surprise, said Mohammad Ikram of the Pakistani Air Force, who was in the mosque at the time.

Bajwa said operations were continuing to flush out any remaining gunmen and hailed the defenders’ reaction to the attack. He also claimed that women and children were given safe exit which was also not confirmed.

Those wounded in the attack were transported to various hospitals in Peshawar.

“At least 22 suspects including eight Afghan nationals have been detained from different parts of the city since Friday after the attack, and are being thoroughly interrogated”, a senior local police official Shakir Bangash told AFP.

The military said the attack was planned, controlled and perpetrated from Afghanistan.

Afghanistan and Pakistan accuse each other of doing too little to prevent Taliban fighters and other Islamist militants from operating on their territory. Peshawar has suffered the most in the war on terror but the latest attack came after a lull of several months.