Three attackers dead as gunmen attack Pakistan air force base in Peshawar

Taliban gunmen have stormed a Pakistani air force base, killing at least 17 people, most of whom were offering prayers in a mosque, the deadliest such attack in years.

Bajwa said the militants entered the base at two points, splitting into sub-groups, sparking a fierce gunbattle with security forces. “The Quick Response Force of the Pakistan army had responded”, Pakistan army spokesman Maj-Ge Asim Bajwa said.

As many as 29 people, including an army captain, were killed in a Friday attack on a heavily guarded Pakistan Air Force base.

The air force has played a key role in the operation against militant hideouts in the tribal areas on the Afghan borders, pounding targets in countless sorties since the onslaught began in June past year .

The Pakistani Army has been carrying out a major offensive against local and foreign militants in North Waziristan, a northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

In neighboring India, The Hindu newspaper quotes Mohamad Khurasani, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, who claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of the group.

Last December, a Taliban assault on a military-run school in Peshawar left 141 dead, with 132 children among the victims. The base was established in 1960s as an air force facility but has mostly been used as a residential place for air force employees and officers from Peshawar.

Bajwa said the terrorists were wearing uniforms of Frontier Constabulary paramilitary troops and equipped with riffles, rocket launchers and hand grenades. Bajwa said that militants had entered the base camp from two sides and were then divided into three groups.

Injured persons have been shifted to a military hospital in Peshawar and two have been taken to Lady Reading Hospital (LRH).

Raheel Sharif, Air chief Sohail Aman and Prime Minsiter of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif attended the funeral prayers of martyrs.

Pakistan has been battling the Pakistani Taliban and its foreign allies since a peace agreement failed and the Taliban launched an attack on Karachi worldwide Airport.

Ambulances took around 20 wounded military personnel to hospital, Bilal Ahmed, a rescue official, told Reuters news agency.

Three air force personnel deployed at a guardroom in the camp were also killed, the daily added.

The editorial said that the message sent by the Badaber camp attack is clear: the TTP is still strong enough to mount an organised attack on a key military installation.