Attack on PNS Mehran Base - PAF Faisal Base

[jha]

Here you go..The real story comes out....Worth Reading ..

Al-Qaeda had warned of Pakistan strike

Al-Qaeda carried out the brazen attack on PNS Mehran naval air station in Karachi on May 22 after talks failed between the navy and al-Qaeda over the release of naval officials arrested on suspicion of al-Qaeda links, an Asia Times Online investigation reveals.

An official statement placed the number of militants at six, with four killed and two escaping. Unofficial sources, though, claim there were 10 militants with six getting free. Asia Times Online contacts confirm that the attackers were from Ilyas Kashmiri's 313 Brigade, the operational arm of al-Qaeda.

Three attacks on navy buses in which at least nine people were killed last month were warning shots for navy officials to accept al-Qaeda's demands over the detained suspects.

The deeper underlying motive, though, was a reaction to massive internal crackdowns on al-Qaeda affiliates within the navy.

 

[jha]

 

[jha]

He said his assailant not only limited to tribal areas and Pakistan are spread across the world. He said that now Pakistan Taliban have become so strong that even if the U.S. left Afghanistan, they still operating in Pakistan and Pakistan will continue fighting until Islamic law enforcement will continue.

?BBC Urdu? - ????????? - ?’?????? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ?????????? ???? ????? ??‘?

 

[Hammy007]

Here you go..The real story comes out....Worth Reading ..

Al-Qaeda had warned of Pakistan strike

but wasnt it osama retaliatory attack as lamied by taliban

 

[Hulk]

neutral link please

 

[jha]

but wasnt it osama retaliatory attack as lamied by taliban

Yes sir..Something similar..Just have a go at the piece and the real story will unfold..

 

[mirage 5000]

DEAR PAKISTAN WAKE UP . its time we attack on FATA as its our enemy country and capture it . 90% attacks come from there and its 5%of Pakistan .its really very very serious that we lose 95% for this 5% of lawless jungle. the day when we agree to make them Pakistani was wore day in our history . they are living in 600BC not in 2011 . if i have power i will cut this censer in one day and allow us to send B-52 bombers to wipe them from earth. look Pakistan lose 35000 men women child's for these brainless bastards.

as example if doctor say to me cut your hand or you will die i will cut my hand same time. tribes are cancer .they dont respect Pakistan Pakistani law Pakistani constitution Pakistani police army navy air force. wake up Pakistan tribes was our nuke but now they are nuke of USA INDIA AFGHANS against Pakistan . fence border mine border close all supply and good to Afghanistan and fata if you want save Pakistan. may god bless Pakistan and save from enemy inside and outside .

 

[Hammy007]

Yes sir..Something similar..Just have a go at the piece and the real story will unfold..

NO sir, i had gone through the article, explain to be how does the death of osama connect the arrest of some imaginative arrested naval alquaeda people jailed in pns mehran??, btw i didnt know that pns mehran which is located in the heart if the city very close to civilians was used as a jail centre for the criminals??

my second question is, dont you think its a rambo type story just to release some alquaeda terrorists they planned all of this, i mean where did the osama security go??, he must have been the top priority for the alquaedians, ohh i know, pakistani army was protecting him

well i am really very confused here sir..

also the contact of the terrorists with the commander of pns mehran doesnt match well with your asia news story either

 

[Aamir Hussain]

Navy officers suspect inside job in PNS Mehran – The Express Tribune

KARACHI: Officials from Pakistan Navy suspect the May 22 naval airbase attack would not have been possible without inside help.

They, however, deny that the change in command at the PNS Mehran has anything to do with the attack and termed the transfer orders a ‘routine’ matter.

Inside job

When the attackers cut the barbed wire on the perimeter wall at the end of the Pakistan Air Force’s (PAF) Faisal base which is adjacent to the PNS Mehran, they had two options.

Instead of the naval base, they could have gone after the assets and personnel of the air force, but they chose not to, even though there were at least four American-made C-130 cargo planes on the PAF side.

“The attackers knew that the navy’s prized assets such as the Orion aircraft and the Chinese and American personnel were present on our base and they came specifically after them,” a senior navy officer said, admitting that no one on the outside could have known about it.

He said the attackers knew the base “inside out” and were well aware of the points where they would have “an advantage over the security forces” who would engage them.

He pointed out that three of the Special Service Group commandos, who were sent in to subdue the attackers, saying this was “no easy feat”.

The navy officials suspects the reconnaissance prior to the attack was carried out not only by someone taking visual footage of the base from the nearby Karsaz bridge, but also by someone from inside the sprawling base where, more than 500 personnel are deployed at any given time.

However, they denied that the attackers were provided weapons by some insider and insisted that the terrorists were equipped with their own Russian-made machine guns, grenades and rocket launchers.

“They are definitely some people suspected of involvement from within, but we’re still investigating exactly who was behind it,” he said.

“From a janitor to an officer at the base, everyone is a suspect at this point,” he said.

He said that previously there have been cases when clerics of local mosques at naval premises were found to be involved in ‘anti-state’ activities.

While the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan have claimed responsibility for the attack, navy officials say that they are not ruling out the possibility of a “foreign country’s intelligence agency’s involvement in the incident”.

Rear-Admiral Tehseenullah Khan, who was the former director-general of the Maritime Security Agency, has been appointed as the head of the team probing the case.

Uzbek attackers?

Navy officials insist the attackers were “not Pakistanis, but foreigners”.

“When I saw the body, I immediately knew that the young man was (an) Uzbek,” a navy official said. He provided no forensic evidence to support his assertion.

However, doctors who conducted the autopsy on the bodies of the four terrorists contradicted the navy’s asertion and said they looked like “any other young Pakistani men” from northern areas.

Interestingly, the autopsy report says the terrorists were “Muslim males between the ages of 22 and 26”. When asked how they determined the religious leanings of the terrorists, the doctor said the autopsy revealed they were circumcised.

Meanwhile, security agencies on Wednesday took a new set of samples for DNA testing from the bodies of the four terrorists being kept at an Edhi morgue.

Change of command

Base commander Raja Tahir has been replaced by Commodore Khalid Pervez. Although the announcement of the change in command of the PNS Mehran has been made only two days after the attack, Pakistan Navy officials insist it is nothing out of the ordinary.

“There’s no truth that Tahir is being replaced as punishment since his replacement orders had been issued four months age and Commodore Pervez has been on the base for more than a week,” a navy official said.

A navy official says that even though they were being blamed for a massive security lapse, the fact is that the breach occurred on the side of the wall that comes under the air force’s jurisdiction.

“They have their own cameras and watchtowers there and failed to spot the attackers. So why blame us,” the official said. He added that there was no question about heads being rolled for the incident.

Rehman Malik

Navy officials are extremely upset with Rehman Malik’s statement that some attackers might have escaped the base and say their chief, Admiral Noman Bashir, had no alternative but to agree with the federal minister’s statement.

They also say it was peculiar that Malik came on air at 10:43pm on Sunday, claiming that around 10 to 15 attackers had not only infiltrated the PNS Mehran base, but also taken control.

“The attack began at 10:37pm. How could he claim to know all that when even we at the control room did not know the exact position,” they added. A navy officer admitted it was a mistake on their part for lodging an FIR which said there were more than 10 attackers.

There were six C-130's there at the time of the attack including the PM's Airbus for routine check. The attackers just had to cross the runway near gate 9 to get at them but they did not and also id not touch any of the other a/c parked on the taramac which were sitting ducks and coul have been easily targeted during the 16 hour seige.

This indicates a possible attempt at a seaborne escape of Highl Level Cadre of AL-Qadea or an attempt to launch a seaborne raid into India along the lines of Mumbai.

The psychological advantage gained from such an operation (the Mehran Rai) would have magnified if the PM plane would have been hit as well.

But then again these are my "Theories."

 

[indushek]

There were six C-130's there at the time of the attack including the PM's Airbus for routine check. The attackers just had to cross the runway near gate 9 to get at them but they did not and also id not touch any of the other a/c parked on the taramac which were sitting ducks and coul have been easily targeted during the 16 hour seige.

This indicates a possible attempt at a seaborne escape of Highl Level Cadre of AL-Qadea or an attempt to launch a seaborne raid into India along the lines of Mumbai.

The psychological advantage gained from such an operation (the Mehran Rai) would have magnified if the PM plane would have been hit as well.

But then again these are my "Theories."

Very probable sir but am unable to contemplate one thing here, if so they should also be knowing that these a/c will be replaced eventually and India will increase its maritime patrol further than what it is now as the think tanks on our end would have noticed this wouldn't they?? Then the only thing that remains is a psychological advantage that they got out of this saying we can strike anywhere anything. Am i wrong here please let me know.

 

[Aamir Hussain]

DEAR PAKISTAN WAKE UP . its time we attack on FATA as its our enemy country and capture it . 90% attacks come from there and its 5%of Pakistan .its really very very serious that we lose 95% for this 5% of lawless jungle. the day when we agree to make them Pakistani was wore day in our history . they are living in 600BC not in 2011 . if i have power i will cut this censer in one day and allow us to send B-52 bombers to wipe them from earth. look Pakistan lose 35000 men women child's for these brainless bastards.

as example if doctor say to me cut your hand or you will die i will cut my hand same time. tribes are cancer .they dont respect Pakistan Pakistani law Pakistani constitution Pakistani police army navy air force. wake up Pakistan tribes was our nuke but now they are nuke of USA INDIA AFGHANS against Pakistan . fence border mine border close all supply and good to Afghanistan and fata if you want save Pakistan. may god bless Pakistan and save from enemy inside and outside .

You are sadly mistaken my friend -- it is not just FATA now -- we have been sitting on our arses too long --- now the problem is no longer confined to FATA but has spilled over to Southern Punjab (My sources in intellegence agencies have told me a number of times that the SP elements in Taliban are more die hard fanatics as compared to the FATA cadre -- and in some instances, the FATA cadre was afraid of the SP groups residing amongst them) and urban Pakistan.

The need of the hour is to shut down their fundings first, from within Pakistan ( You will be surprised how vast and deep this funding network is in the Urban Areas) and from our Arab "Bretheren." Wrap up their urban training bases, sancturies, support centers (BTW the local police and CID has this info. even before the ISI). Than launch an all out assualt on suspected trainnig and C3 sites in FATA. But before we do that, enact Anti Terror laws so that these fanatics are not relased on bail or kept in jails where they can be sprung out any time soon.

 

[greatf]

Mr. Xeric you mentioned very clearly some of bad people in our society who being civillian are offering namaz-e-janaza and other things to creat sympathy with so called Jihadis and Shaheeds. How about those who are serving in Military Institutions and still have strong potential towards them..??? army being an institution is our Pride Honor and when somebody hit out pride and honor we have the right to say (whether u like it or not) So question is not that how many enemies we are fighting with.. WE ARE ONLY FIGHTING WITH ONE ENEMY (OURSELVES) Hm mein jo shidat pasand mojood hain unka ilaj kaisay karna hai whether civilians or military personnel...
SSG Naval Commando was arrested in januray 2011 he was from the Mehsood Family...during investigation he told authorities about the plan of PNS Mehran Attack... Kia keya Gaya.. ab tak..? Nothing...
So we must leave criticizing others, As we are no more superiors we have been challanged in the same way as other civilian institutions had....

 

[Aamir Hussain]

Very probable sir but am unable to contemplate one thing here, if so they should also be knowing that these a/c will be replaced eventually and India will increase its maritime patrol further than what it is now as the think tanks on our end would have noticed this wouldn't they?? Then the only thing that remains is a psychological advantage that they got out of this saying we can strike anywhere anything. Am i wrong here please let me know.

If my "Theory" is correct than there is a time lag between replacement planes available to Pakistan and probable readiness timelines for such a raid.

Mind you, India might be happy with all of this, overtly but if there is any sense prevailing on the other side of the border, they would be deeply worried on these and other developments in Pakistan that can affect them directly.

Why I am say what I am saying -- the purpose of any guerrilla type of war or insurgency is not to fight pitched battle with regular army troops but to relentlessly downgrade the will to put up resistance by escalating the targets list from front line units to military families, rear areas, key political or religious figures, and sensational symbolic hits like GHQ, PNS Mehran etc

 

[@nline]

Its an India, Israel & USA join attack.
Because these 3 countries fully supporting Taliban against €€€, £££, $$$ just to destabilize Pakistan as much as they can.

 

[Aamir Hussain]

The helos at the PN base are not ground attack helos but primarily dedicated to ASW and Surface attack (Seakings -- four of them were there at the time). However, there were two to three utility helos of Army Aviation across the runway from PN Mehran.