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| Pakistan air force base comes under attack | |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Militants have attacked an air force base in north-west Pakistan filled with F-16 jets and other aircraft, sparking a heavy battle with security forces that left parts of the complex in flames, officials said. | Militants have attacked an air force base in north-west Pakistan filled with F-16 jets and other aircraft, sparking a heavy battle with security forces that left parts of the complex in flames, officials said. |
| Television reports said two soldiers and six of the attackers were killed in the fighting at the Minhas base in Kamra, 50 miles north-west of Islamabad. The assailants threw grenades and fired assault rifles. | |
| It was not immediately clear if the attack was beaten back but a Reuters reporter who reached Kamra in the morning did not hear any gunfire. | |
| An air force statement said commandos exchanged gunfire with "terrorists" for hours. | |
| Hafeez Aulakh, a police officer standing outside the base, told the Associated Press by phone that insurgents infiltrated the Kamra base under the cover of darkness and began battling security forces at around 2am. The fighting was still going on three hours later, he said. | |
| Special forces soldiers who joined the group trying to retake the base found the body of a suicide bomber inside, said the Pakistani air force, adding that the bomber was strapped with explosives. The air force said the battle's intensity had fallen from its height. | Special forces soldiers who joined the group trying to retake the base found the body of a suicide bomber inside, said the Pakistani air force, adding that the bomber was strapped with explosives. The air force said the battle's intensity had fallen from its height. |
| There were no immediate reports of casualties. | There were no immediate reports of casualties. |
| No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but suspicion will likely fall on the Pakistani Taliban whom the government is trying to rout from hideouts mostly along the border with Afghanistan. The insurgency against the government has killed tens of thousands of people, though direct raids on military bases have been uncommon. | No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but suspicion will likely fall on the Pakistani Taliban whom the government is trying to rout from hideouts mostly along the border with Afghanistan. The insurgency against the government has killed tens of thousands of people, though direct raids on military bases have been uncommon. |
| Half a dozen Taliban militants attacked a major naval base in the southern port city of Karachi in May 2011, killing at least 10 people and destroying two US-supplied surveillance aircraft. It took Pakistani commandos 18 hours to retake Naval Station Mehran and two of the attackers managed to escape. There was speculation they had inside information or assistance. | Half a dozen Taliban militants attacked a major naval base in the southern port city of Karachi in May 2011, killing at least 10 people and destroying two US-supplied surveillance aircraft. It took Pakistani commandos 18 hours to retake Naval Station Mehran and two of the attackers managed to escape. There was speculation they had inside information or assistance. |
| There have been at least three attacks in the vicinity of the Kamra air force base in recent years but all of them were outside the installation. | There have been at least three attacks in the vicinity of the Kamra air force base in recent years but all of them were outside the installation. |