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Gunmen storm military air base in Pakistan | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Gunmen have attacked a Pakistani military air base triggering a fierce fire-fight with security forces that lasted several hours. | |
Several militants wearing military uniforms and suicide belts stormed Minhas air base at Kamra, near the capital Islamabad, just after dawn. | |
Two Pakistani soldiers and six militants were killed, a military spokesman told AFP news agency. | |
It is not clear if other gunmen remain unaccounted for. | |
All Pakistan's air bases have been placed on high alert following the attack. | All Pakistan's air bases have been placed on high alert following the attack. |
Earlier, a police officer outside the air base, Hafeez Aulakh, said he could hear intense gunfire and see flames leaping up from inside, the Associated Press news agency reported. | |
Militants did not reach the hangars inside the base, the air force said, although rocket-propelled grenades fired from outside are said to have damaged one aircraft. | |
Officials have not declared the situation over, however reporters who reached the scene several hours later said there was no sound of gunfire. | |
It was not immediately clear how the attackers managed to enter the base. | |
Minhas is one of Pakistan's biggest air bases with about 30 fighter jets including new JF-17 planes - jointly developed with China - that are being assembled there. It is about 60km (35 miles) north-west of Islamabad. | |
No group has said it carried out the attack but Islamist militants linked to the Pakistani Taliban have previously targeted military bases. | No group has said it carried out the attack but Islamist militants linked to the Pakistani Taliban have previously targeted military bases. |
In May 2011, militants attacked the Mehran naval air base in Karachi, killing 10 soldiers. | In May 2011, militants attacked the Mehran naval air base in Karachi, killing 10 soldiers. |
It took security forces about 17 hours to secure the base on that occasion. | It took security forces about 17 hours to secure the base on that occasion. |
In 2009 a suicide bomber killed six people at a military checkpoint in Kamra, in Punjab province. | In 2009 a suicide bomber killed six people at a military checkpoint in Kamra, in Punjab province. |