Pakistan: Troops end attack on Karachi naval air base

Pakistani troops have ended a siege by militants who attacked a naval base in the city of Karachi.

The troops are now said to be "mopping up" after the raid, which has left 10 soldiers and at least three attackers dead.

Reports hostages including foreigners were taken were denied, and foreigners at the base are said to be safe.

The Pakistan Taliban says the raid was to avenge Osama Bin Laden's killing by US special forces on 2 May.

"It was the revenge of martyrdom of Osama Bin Laden. It was the proof that we are still united and powerful," Ehsanullah Ehsan told Reuters news agency.

They have carried out several attacks since then.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said 10 soldiers had died and 15 were wounded in the attack.

Two attackers were also killed and a third blew himself up. Another is believed to be buried under debris and two more are thought to have escaped.

An unexploded suicide jacket and live grenades were found, the minister added.

There were 17 foreigners at the site, including 11 Chinese aviation trainers, but all are safe, Mr Malik said.

The attack is similiar to a raid in October 2009 in which Taliban militants laid siege to the army headquarters in the garrison town of Rawalpindi, killing dozens.

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad says the Karachi incident will revive fears about the security of Pakistan's nuclear installations.

Aircraft burned

On Sunday evening at 2230 (1730 GMT), militants stormed three hangars housing aircraft at the Mehran naval aviation base, according to officials.

Mr Malik said they cut through barbed wire at a place on the perimeter where they could not be detected by security cameras, and they were wearing black.

Their first targets were aircraft parked on the tarmac and equipment in nearby hangers, says the BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan at the scene.

Eyewitnesses say the militants used rocket-propelled grenades to damage and destroy several warplanes. These included the Pakistan navy's premier anti-submarine and marine surveillance aircraft - the US-made P-3C Orion.

At least two of these multi-million dollar planes were set ablaze.

The gunmen then opened indiscriminate fire, killing several naval personnel as they carried their raid into the heart of the base.

Subsequently, navy commandos and marines launched a counter-assault. Dozens of heavily armed army reinforcements also arrived to provide cover.

Some of the militants were killed, officials say.

They added that troops were now combing the base for any remaining militants but they had to be careful because of military aircraft on the site.

"Because of the presence of several assets on the base, the operation is being carried out in a cautious, smart way," Irfan ul Haq told the Associated Press news agency.

"That's why it's taking so long."

On Friday, the Taliban bombed a US consulate convoy in Peshawar, killing one Pakistani.

Other attacks by Pakistani militants this month include a raid on a security post that killed two police in the north-west and a twin suicide bombing at a paramilitary police training centre.

source : bbc.co.uk