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42, including 13 terrorists, killed in Taliban attack on Pakistan air force base
PESHAWAR: At least 42 persons were killed, 16 of them inside a mosque, and more than 30 injured when Pakistani Taliban carried out a deadly attack on a base camp of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Friday morning.
The military said that the dead included 13 terrorists, army captain and three PAF technicians. It said that attackers, wearing explosives-laden jackets and carrying AK-47 rifles, hand-propelled grenades and mortars, entered the PAF base camp in Peshawar's Badaber area after storming a guard post. After clearing their way, a group of them, attacked a nearby mosque, killing 16 worshippers there during morning prayers.
"The militants were contained within a close area. Meanwhile, a group of terrorists rushed to a mosque and killed 16 people offering prayers inside," said Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa, army's spokesperson. He said that 13 terrorists were shot dead in the encounter that followed the attack. Bajwa said that militants had entered the base camp from two sides and were then divided into three groups. Moreover, he said that two army officers and eight soldiers were injured during an exchange of fire with terrorists. Locals said that they heard several explosions inside the base during Friday's wee hours.
Television pictures showed helicopters hovering above the base camp while ambulances ferrying dead and injured persons to hospitals.
Sources at a military-run hospital in Peshawar said that 29 dead bodies were brought there and three of them were beyond recognition. Rescue officials said that 30 injured were taken to the city's Combined Military and Lady Reading hospitals. "Six injured were brought into the hospital with three of them in critical condition," said Dr Subhani, a medical superintendant at Lady Reading Hospital.
It was not clear how many of them were civilians and how many military personnel but more than 20 coffins were seen at army's crops headquarters in Peshawar where PM Nawaz Sharif and army Chief General Raheel Sharif participated in their funeral prayers.
Soldiers arrive to repel an attack on an air force base in Peshawar. (Reuters photo)
The photographs of dead militants shared with media revealed that they were between 17-23 years of age and wearing white shoes and uniforms of Frontier Constabulary, a paramilitary force.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack, saying in an email sent to journalists that the attack was carried out by its suicide unit in reaction to military operations against them in tribal regions.
The facility that terrorists attacked was not operational and had been used in the past by US for surveillance and espionage activities against former Soviet Union. Peshawar has suffered the most in the war on terror but the latest attack came after a lull of several months. It was the worst attack in the northwestern city since the massacre of 131 kids and 13 adults by Taliban in December 2014.
Separately, six suspected militants were killed on Friday in a US drone strike in South Waziristan tribal region on the border with Afghanistan. Intelligence sources said that the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) fired two missiles on a hideout of militants in Sarokai area of South Waziristan, killing at least six suspected militants.
42, including 13 terrorists, killed in Taliban attack on Pakistan air force base - The Times of India
PESHAWAR: At least 42 persons were killed, 16 of them inside a mosque, and more than 30 injured when Pakistani Taliban carried out a deadly attack on a base camp of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Friday morning.
The military said that the dead included 13 terrorists, army captain and three PAF technicians. It said that attackers, wearing explosives-laden jackets and carrying AK-47 rifles, hand-propelled grenades and mortars, entered the PAF base camp in Peshawar's Badaber area after storming a guard post. After clearing their way, a group of them, attacked a nearby mosque, killing 16 worshippers there during morning prayers.
"The militants were contained within a close area. Meanwhile, a group of terrorists rushed to a mosque and killed 16 people offering prayers inside," said Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa, army's spokesperson. He said that 13 terrorists were shot dead in the encounter that followed the attack. Bajwa said that militants had entered the base camp from two sides and were then divided into three groups. Moreover, he said that two army officers and eight soldiers were injured during an exchange of fire with terrorists. Locals said that they heard several explosions inside the base during Friday's wee hours.
Television pictures showed helicopters hovering above the base camp while ambulances ferrying dead and injured persons to hospitals.
Sources at a military-run hospital in Peshawar said that 29 dead bodies were brought there and three of them were beyond recognition. Rescue officials said that 30 injured were taken to the city's Combined Military and Lady Reading hospitals. "Six injured were brought into the hospital with three of them in critical condition," said Dr Subhani, a medical superintendant at Lady Reading Hospital.
It was not clear how many of them were civilians and how many military personnel but more than 20 coffins were seen at army's crops headquarters in Peshawar where PM Nawaz Sharif and army Chief General Raheel Sharif participated in their funeral prayers.
Soldiers arrive to repel an attack on an air force base in Peshawar. (Reuters photo)
The photographs of dead militants shared with media revealed that they were between 17-23 years of age and wearing white shoes and uniforms of Frontier Constabulary, a paramilitary force.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack, saying in an email sent to journalists that the attack was carried out by its suicide unit in reaction to military operations against them in tribal regions.
The facility that terrorists attacked was not operational and had been used in the past by US for surveillance and espionage activities against former Soviet Union. Peshawar has suffered the most in the war on terror but the latest attack came after a lull of several months. It was the worst attack in the northwestern city since the massacre of 131 kids and 13 adults by Taliban in December 2014.
Separately, six suspected militants were killed on Friday in a US drone strike in South Waziristan tribal region on the border with Afghanistan. Intelligence sources said that the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) fired two missiles on a hideout of militants in Sarokai area of South Waziristan, killing at least six suspected militants.
42, including 13 terrorists, killed in Taliban attack on Pakistan air force base - The Times of India
