Militants storm Pakistani naval base. Two aircrafts destroyed.

[thewiseguy]

The naval air base Mehran in Karachi is under a full fledge attacks by militants right now. The militants are apparently in control of one building and at least one Pakistani aircraft has been destroyed. 5 explosions inside the base so far.

Mehran is the headquarters of Pakistan's naval air arm. At least 4 navy staff members killed so far.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13495127

The well-armed attackers set off explosives and have been fighting gunbattles with navy personnel at the Mehran naval aviation base.

The gunmen are now holding hostages, including Chinese military personnel.

No group has claimed the raid, but the Pakistani Taliban have vowed to avenge the killing of Osama Bin Laden by US special forces on 2 May.

They have carried out several attacks since then.

[thewiseguy]

1. Latest picture from the attack which is still going

The militants were targeting the Lockheed P-3 Orion aircrafts.

[thewiseguy]

2. More than 35 hostages now. Possible American hostages?

[Vehl]

3. Seems to include Chinese, from what the BBC is saying

I doubt there would be Chinese and Americans at the same base...also its general practice for American forces to not be in Pakistani military installations unless there is a sizable American presence...mostly due to security reasons. Also oft Americans tend to be in Airbases, not Naval ones.

Btw the BBC claims that informants suggest that this was probably aided by Military personnel inside the base, in other words it must have had inside help to succeed. Not surprising..given the extensive inroads the Taliban/AQ have made into the Pakistani Military over the past few decades.


I really fear for the security of Pakistani nukes...this base was supposedly one of THE most secure bases in Pakistan...the success of such an attack in this highly secure base raises many questions about how secure the Pakistani nukes are....I really really hope they do not fall into the hands of the Fundies

[thewiseguy]

4. Thanks for the info. Do we know where Pakistan is holding their nukes?

Not on this base I hope?

[Vehl]

5. Probably not, the Nukes come under Pakistani Airforce Control

instead of the Navy. however the Army has its own say as well, because its the one that provides security. Supposedly about 2 Divisions are used to guard the Pakistani Nukes, probably spread out all over the country. However its almost a given that they will tend to be near Pakistani Air-force base as the F16's are the only aircraft pakistan has which can carry nukes...the rest will be in ballistic missile warheads.

The Sargodha PAF airbase is supposedly the biggest such base associated with nukes.

here is a google map pic of that base with the hardened shelters numbered



here is another pic of that region showing recent tunnel dug into a nearby mountain using Chinese help. It will be not too hard to guess what will be stored inside.





Some of the suspected nuclear storage sites are

Sargodha PAF AFB
Minwali PAF AFB
Masroor PAF AFB
Samungli PAF AFB
Kohat PAF AFB
Rafiqui PAF AFB
Chaklala PAF AFB
Peshawar PAF AFB
Kamra PAF AFB

According to US officials, there seems to be some plan in place for American forces to take-over(??? would be pretty dangerous) the Pakistani nuclear facilities in the event of a coup/Fundie takeover. The window of opportunity for such an operation will be extremely limited..given that the fundies might be more than willing to launch the nukes the moment tget get control...even if it means they will die as well(kinda hard to reason with a person who is looking to get into "heaven" by killing kafirs). Not only will the American forces have to take over these highly guarded installations by fighting the security there..but they have to do it before any nukes are launched. In the event of a launch all these sites will be immediately turned into parking lots by retaliatory strikes..and if American forces are in the vicinity they will be caught in the middle.

This is what makes the entire situation really dangerous because if Pakistan collapses India, America and surrounding nations will be in HUGE trouble.Thus the unfortunate situation of being forced to walk a tightrope while dealing with Pakistan. Its a country too dangerous to fail. :(. For the sake of millions of people I really hope the Pakistanis are able to guard their nukes, but my biggest fear is that there are fundamentalist moles in the forces guarding the nukes...its almost a given...a point reinforced when allegations about inside job/support surfacing about today's attack in the naval base.

[Boojatta]

6. Why does this story remind me of ...

... this video?

[EFerrari]

7. Saturday there was a big demonstration against US drone strikes

led by a popular politician. Against the US and also against the government's cooperation with the US.

Seems like Pakistan is tinder right now.

[bemildred]

8. That's OK, they are losing momentum, there is light at the end of the tunnel, ... nt

[Vehl]

9. I wonder if Mullah Omer's death had anything to do with this?

Seems unlikely given that this operation happened before his (presumed) death. I wonder if he played a part in planning this attack.
Either way he seems to have gone with a bang...both literally and metaphorically.