Pakistan - Taliban claim attack on Minhas base; nine militants killed.

Pakistan - Taliban claim attack on Minhas base; nine militants killed.(Dawn).The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for an attack on a Pakistani military airbase early Thursday, which left 10 people dead, including a soldier, and damaged at least one Air Force aircraft. The militant assault renews questions about security at key military installations, particularly at a base which has been attacked before. Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed nine heavily armed TTP militants stormed the PAF Minhas airbase at Kamra, located about 70 kms from the capital Islamabad in Punjab’s Attock city, sparking an intense gun battle lasting almost five hours. “The attack was launched from two different sides. A team of four members entered from one side and five from the other and than they launched a collective attack inside the camp,” Ehsan told Dawn.com, speaking from an undisclosed location, confirming that all nine attackers were killed in the assault. 
The militant spokesman further claimed that they had achieved their targets and killed “more than a dozen security personnel” inside the base. PAF officials also confirmed all nine militants had been killed, however, they said only one Pakistani soldier, Mohammad Asif, had lost his life in the attack. The Taliban spokesman also claimed the attackers had destroyed three JF-17 thunder aircraft as well. PAF officials said that only one of aircraft at the base was damaged in the attack.
Several squadrons of fighters and surveillance planes are believed to be housed at Kamra’s Minhas base. Officials also confirmed that over 30 planes were parked at the base, including state-of-the-art JF-17 Thunder fighter jets. The airbase is a heavily guarded compound with the air force’s Kamra Aeronautical Complex also in its vicinity, where Pakistan assembles and overhauls JF-17 Thunder fighter jets in collaboration with China. According to reports, at least 11 Chinese engineers were working at the Kamra Aeronautical Complex. Although the attack took place at about 2 am, it is likely many of the soldiers on the base were awake for prayers or breakfast during the fasting month of Ramadan. Although the TTP spokesman claims the militants attacked the base from two sides, it was not clear how the attackers managed to enter the sprawling base. The gunmen disguised themselves in uniforms armed with automatic weapons, grenades and suicide vests, the air force said. “Other miscreants then fired RPGs from outside the base boundary wall. As a result one PAF aircraft got damaged,” it added in a statement.
Special Forces and police were scrambled to the scene. Gunfire, rocket and hand grenade explosions were heard during heavy clashes. One officer told news agency AFP that he saw flames after waking up for his pre-dawn meal. “There was an announcement by megaphone for soldiers not to move from the barracks and we were forbidden from going to the area where I saw the fire,” he said. “The attackers were wearing security force uniforms but I can’t specify of which force uniform they were wearing,” he added. “One body of a suicide bomber strapped with explosives has been found close to the impact area.” Base commander, Air Commodore Muhammad Azam, who led the operation against the attackers, was wounded, but is in stable condition, said the spokesman. One other security official also received injuries.Taliban spokesman Ehsan claimed the militant organisation had carried out the attack “to avenge the deaths of Osama bin Laden, the TTP Amir Baitullah Mehsud and other fighters who had been killed by the Pakistani security forces.”Read the full story here.