Terrorists hold Pak Navy base for 18 hrs,bomb 2 spy planes

The attackers thought to number around six destroyed at least two US-supplied P-3C Orion surveillance planes and killed 10 security officers,officials said. At least four of the attackers were killed,and two others may have escaped,said Pakistan Navy chief Nauman Bashir.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault in the city of Karachi. The militants said it was revenge for the May 2 US raid that killed al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden,and the insurgents were under orders to fight until death. They do not want to come out alive,they have gone there to embrace martyrdom, said spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan.

The insurgent team armed with grenades,rockets and automatic weapons stormed Mehran under cover of darkness late Sunday,using ladders and cutting the wire to get into the facility,Interior Minister Rehman Malik said.

Once inside,they scattered around the compound,setting off explosions and hiding in the sprawling facility. During the day Monday,the militants were holed up in an office building in a gunbattle with commandos,Navy spokesman Irfan ul Haq said. Navy helicopters flew over the base,and snipers were seen on a runway control tower.

By the afternoon,Haq said the militants had been defeated. Thanks be to God,the base is cleared and the operation is over, he said. Commandos leaving the complex flashed victory signs to reporters.

Malik said he saw some of the bodies of the attackers,even showing a picture of one lying bloodied on the grass that he took with his cell phone. He said the were dressed in black and looked like the Star Wars characters.

Six Americans and 11 Chinese aviation engineers were on the base but escaped unharmed,he said. The insurgents ability to penetrate the facility rattled a military establishment already embarrassed by the US raid on bin Laden and raised the possibility they had inside help.

It will also likely lead to more questions over the safety of Pakistans nuclear weapons. In 2009,Islamist terrorists stormed army headquarters close to the capital,holding hostages for 22 hours. But unlike the attack Sunday in Karachi,the attackers then failed to deeply penetrate the complex.

The raid on bin Ladens compound in Abbottabad has triggered a strong backlash against Washington,as well as rare domestic criticism of the armed forces for failing to detect or prevent the US operation. This is the third major attack the group has claimed since the bin Laden killing.

The others were a car bombing that slightly injured US consulate workers in Peshawar and a twin suicide attack that killed around 90 Pak paramilitary police recruits.

At least two P-3C Orions,maritime surveillance aircraft given to Pakistan by the US,were destroyed,he said.

The U.S. Navy puts the cost of the planes at $36 million each. The United States handed over two Orions to the Pakistani navy at a ceremony at the base in June 2010 attended by 250 Pakistani and American officials,according to the US Central Command. It said by late 2012,Pakistan would have eight of the planes.

US Embassy spokesman Alberto Rodriguez said the Americans were working as contractors to help support the P-3C aircraft but did not report to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate. Four of them were part of a Lockheed Martin contract engineering and technical support team,he said.

In April,militants bombed three buses in Karachi taking Navy employees to work,killing at least nine people.

Meanwhile,Pakistani intelligence officials said a pair of suspected U.S. missiles hit a vehicle and killed four people near the Afghan border. It was the latest in an uptick of strikes following the bin Laden raid.

The attack occurred in Machi Khel area in North Waziristan,a tribal region home to several militant groups attacking US forces in Afghanistan.

The US relies heavily on missile strikes to target foes in Pakistan. Pakistan objects to the attacks publicly,but is believed to support them in private.

Said Amir Rana,a terrorism and security expert: We need to look at local groups,which are active in Karachi and have links with Al Qaeda…They have used sophisticated techniques in the past. So,it can be a nexus of local groups with Al Qaeda.

Rana said that militant groups maintain their presence and influence in Shah Faisal Colony,a sprawling lower and middle class neighbourhood,adjacent to the naval base,adding that the possibility of an inside job could not be discounted.

For the residents of Karachi,the countrys largest city and commercial and financial hub,the assault fueled deep frustration with the security forces for failing to thwart attacks by insurgents.

The attack on PNS Mehran has promoted the fear that the city is completely out of control, said Rafia Zakaria,a columnist for Dawn. This bold attack,in the immediate aftermath of the Abbottabad operation,proves that the Pakistani military is neither as formidable or capable as Pakistanis have believed for decades, said Zakaria,who is based in the United States but is currently visiting Karachi.