A motivated and trained intruder is very difficult to be stopped by physical barriers like high walls.
High walls mostly create a false sense of security. Example -
Security personnel might get into a sense of lull believing that scaling a wall is very difficult. Example above shows that it is not. What if intruders take a JCB machine in a brazen attack like in Gaza?
There has to be adequate number of well trained guards deployed all around for gap free coverage. It has to be coupled with hi-tech surveillance, because humans have the tenderly to fail. What is the cost involved to provide this kind of security? Has to be very high. It may not be possible to maintain a highest level of security at all times.
That is where intelligence comes in play and security can be scaled up selectively on an input. Mianwali has a zig -zag kind of perimeter. That further creates an issue. It would become more difficult to secure it compared to a perimeter in straight line. The perimeter length is close to 16 Kms. The area to be defended is also a massive one, as shown in the pic below.
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Recent intrusion by Hamas in Gaza clearly shows that mere presence of barriers can’t stop a motivated and trained group. It has to be a multi-pronged strategy to stop an attack like this. Casualties are also bound to happen because the attackers have most of the advantages. That includes fidayeen mindset of being ready to die.
Most people here are analysing this as a tactical failure in terms of response by the teams on the ground. It wasn’t. If someone tries a similar attack at some other installation like an Air Force base, then it is likely to be as devastating as this one.