Taliban Attack on Pak Air Base, 42 Killed

The assault shows the Taliban retain the capability to mount devastating attacks despite a military campaign and a government crackdown against them following the massacre of more than 150 people, mostly children, at an army-run school last December. In this particular case, while the militants may not have met with outright success, the attack nevertheless has warned the government, the security apparatus and the citizenry that the Taliban will not go away quickly and can still strike at sensitive military installations.

The Pakistani Army says the Pakistani Taliban killed 16 people inside a mosque during an assault on a military base near the northwestern city of Peshawar.

“There are no air assets including combat aircraft deployed at the base”, he said, requesting anonymity.

He said that the terrorists resorted to firing while entering the premises, armed with rocket launchers and grenades, adding that the personnel in the guard room gave a befitting response to them.

The base is basically a private complex instead of an operational one – is situated on the southern-most tip of Peshawar’s authoritative breaking limits.

In addition to the 16 slain inside the mosque, 13 air force and army employees at the base were also killed, Bajwa said. He told the attack was planned, operated and controlled from Afghanistan. An army captain, who attempted to take on the militants, was also martyred.

There was no immediate response from Afghanistan.

Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesperson Muhammad Khurasani in an e-mailed statement claimed responsibility and said a “suicidal unit” had carried out the attack. They offered “safe passage” to women and children after attacking the base, Khurasani said. He also said that the Taliban had “targeted” 50 security forces, without explaining what that meant.

The Taliban appear to be using religious minorities as “soft targets” in Pakistan – on the assumption that attacks on Christians and Shiite Muslims will win them sympathy with a local audience here that has been steadily radicalized over a number of years.

The photographs of dead militants shared with media revealed that they were between 17-23 years of age and wearing white shoes and uniforms of Frontier Constabulary, a paramilitary force. Pakistan wants Kabul to arrest Fazlullah as he is accused of numerous of acts of terrorism in Pakistan. “Six injured were brought into the hospital with three of them in critical condition”, said Dr Subhani, a medical superintendant at Lady Reading Hospital. The Pakistan army too suffered casualties.

A wounded security official, Mohammad Rizwan, said he was coming out of the mosque when he was hit by a bullet.

He further said that after entering the site the terrorists divided into groups with one group headed towards the administration area, while the other group proceeded towards the technical area.

A search operation was launched to nab any possible associates of the attackers and police rounded up 15 suspects.