The terrorists, who took advantage of darkness, stormed the PNS Mehran base by climbing over the eastern boundary wall into the base with the help of a ladder on Sunday at 10:40pm. They damaged two naval aircraft with explosives and targeted various other sensitive installations of the base. They remained involved in a gun battle for almost 17 hours, which left 10 security personnel dead and 15 others wounded.
They used heavy weapons including rockets, LMGs, sub-machine guns, hand grenades and other sophisticated weapons in this attack, which caused damage to two naval aircraft and various other sensitive installations. A spokesman for Pakistan Navy, Commodore Irfan Ul Haq confirmed the martyrdom of ten security personnel, including eight naval officials, and two Rangers personnel and injuries to 15 others in the operation.
The terrorists, who climbed over the wall from Malir Nullah side at around 10: 30pm Sunday, besieged the hangar area of the base where naval planes were parked. Commodore Irfan further said the naval commandos cordoned off the hangar area and managed to rescue other aircraft and assets of the compound. He also confirmed that the terrorists damaged two P-C 3 Orion aircraft.
Sources said the blasts occurred when terrorists fired rockets and hurled grenades during gun-battle, which belched out flames and smoke continuously throughout the night. They said that two of them were gunned down by security personnel while one terrorist wearing suicide jacket blew himself up.
They, however, contested the number of terrorists, insisting that there were only three terrorists, who gave tough time to the security forces and engaged them for at least 14 hours. According to them, none fled the base. They further said the security forces started a thorough search of the area soon after the last terrorist wearing a suicide jacket blew himself up at around 9am Monday to avert his arrest.
The sources said the terrorists, who sneaked into the base from Malir riverbed, behind the naval base, used a ladder to climb over the high wall and cut fence wires to move inside the base with heavy weaponry. They further said that some six personnel of security forces were killed in an ambush that took place as soon as the terrorists entered in base while four other personnel were killed in exchange of gunshots.
Navy and army commandos engaged the terrorists in a gun battle while Rangers manned outer circle of the operation with a view to blocking the escape route of terrorists. Following the armed attack, heavy contingents of police, media and rescuers rushed to the spot. However, they were not allowed to go inside the base.
Although Interior Minister Rehman Malik rejected the reports of killing of any foreigners and said that all 17 foreigners, who have been evacuated safely, remained unhurt in this attack, the reason behind the presence of foreigners was not clarified.
Later, the Pakistan's Naval Chief Admiral Noman Bashir confirmed the death of 10 security personnel at a press conference. He said the terrorists, who entered PNS Mehran from its eastern boundary, opened indiscriminate fire on Navy commandos who had challenged them within three minutes. Furthermore, the Naval Chief said the terrorists, who took advantage of wild bushes, fired six rockets and RPs at the base. He said the motive behind this attack was yet to be ascertained. According to him, the terrorists did not cause any severe damage to the base. He also confirmed that there were six Americans at the naval air base when it came under terrorist attack.
Agencies add: Interior Minister Rehman Malik said just six militants were believed involved in the attack on the PNS Mehran base in Karachi late on Sunday, destroying or damaging two aircraft and laying siege to a main building in one of the most heavily guarded bases in the country. At least 10 military personnel were killed and 20 wounded in the assault that started at 10.30 pm on Sunday, a navy spokesman said.
Malik said three militants were killed in the gun battle while the body of a fourth was believed to be buried under the rubble of a collapsed wall. Two suspects were believed to have fled the scene, he added. Malik said the "terrorists" sneaked into the base from three points adjacent to residential areas in the city.
"It is not just an attack on a navy establishment, it is an attack on Pakistan," Malik added, warning that those who sympathise with the Taliban and al Qaeda should instead "join hands with us to save our country". "There are believed to have been four to six terrorists. Four are confirmed dead. Two are suspected to have run away. We are still checking. Things will be clear by the evening," he told reporters.
One of the attackers is believed to have blown himself up and three dead bodies were found, the minister said. He said the group had used two ladders, under the cover of darkness, to climb over the wall into the base late Sunday. In a bizarre analogy, Malik compared the attackers to characters from a Star Wars film, dressed in Western clothes.
"They were wearing black clothes like in Star Wars movies, (one) with (a) suicide vest. They had small beards and two of them were between 20-22 years old while the third who blew himself up was about 25." A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, who have stepped up attacks to avenge the May 2 death of bin Laden, said the militia had dispatched 15 to 20 suicide bombers equipped to fight for a week.
"We had already warned after Osama's martyrdom that we will carry out even bigger attacks," Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location. Malik refused to acknowledge any security lapse, saying the "rapid" response had prevented bigger losses and adding that a security alert had been ordered across the country in large cities to guard against future attacks.