Pakistan's military under al-Qaeda
attack By Syed Saleem
Shahzad
ISLAMABAD - The brazen
al-Qaeda-linked attack on the Pakistan navy's
Mehran air base in the southern port city of
Karachi on Sunday night marks the violent
beginning of an internal ideological struggle
between Islamist elements in the Pakistani armed
forces and their secular and liberal top brass.
More than 10 heavily armed militants
attacked the base from three sides, blowing up
several sensitive aircraft including a United
States-manufactured surveillance plane. At least
20 security personnel are known to have been
killed and as of late Monday morning the militants
were still holding hostages in the facility.
The attack has been claimed by the
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (Pakistan Taliban), but
Asia Times Online contacts are adamant that the
operation was orchestrated by al-Qaeda to avenge the
killing of Osama bin Laden
this month by US Special Forces and carried out by
313 Brigade - the operational arm of al-Qaeda that
is headed by Ilyas Kashmiri.
Following Bin
Laden's killing in the town of Abbottabad 60
kilometers north of Islamabad on May 2, Asia Times
Online wrote that the reaction of the militants
would be carefully planned attacks on
installations of the armed forces:
This would be the beginning of real
fireworks within the military establishment
should mid-level cadre - rogue elements -
aligned with Sunni militants instigate attacks
along the lines of the militant assault on the
Indian city of Mumbai in 2008 that resulted in
the deaths of more than 150 people. Trouble
ahead in Pakistan's new US phase , May 18.
The attack began at about 10.30pm on
Sunday night when the militants, carrying guns,
rocket-propelled grenades and hand grenades,
stormed the base. They blew up guard rooms before
heading for a hanger, where they targeted P-3
Orion aircraft with rockets, recently supplied by
the US to Pakistan, on which some American
officials were working.
A senior security
official in Karachi told Asia Times Online that
the militants showed a lot of resilience and had
pinned down security forces, which have to date
made three attempts to eliminate the attackers and
release the hostages. Some unconfirmed reports
suggested that Chinese workers were among the
hostages. A navy spokesman denied this.
The first move against the militants was
made on Sunday night by Sindh police and Rangers,
but they were immediately repulsed. Then navy
commandos entered on early Monday morning, but
they took at least 12 casualties. Later, the
Special Services Group of the army was deployed
and it has also received some casualties.
According to eye witnesses reports, the
militants acted in a calm and relaxed way, firing
at intervals. They appeared to have complete
knowledge of the base and frequently changed their
position. Very much like the Mumbai attack, the
militants were well-equipped with arms,
ammunition, food and drink.
"It was shown
several months ago that the Pakistan navy is
vulnerable to Islamists when a marine commando
unit official was arrested," the security official
said. "He was a member of the Mehsud tribe from
South Waziristan [tribal area] and was completely
indoctrinated by militants. Naval Intelligence
never shared the information with the ISI
[Inter-Services Intelligence] or any other
security agency that during interrogation he
confessed that militants planned to attack
installations during the visit of a foreign
delegation. Now, they [intelligence] realize how
the organization [navy] is riddled and vulnerable
to the influence of militant organizations," the
official said.
The attack is similar to
other major ones in the South Asian war theater:
Mumbai on November 26, 2008 - 10 militants
went on a three-day rampage.
Police Academy in Lahore in 2009 - least 23
people dead and hundreds injured.
The Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in 2009
- six policemen killed and several injured.
General Headquarters Rawalpindi in 2009 -
several hostages taken and then released.
Parade Lane Mosque Rawalpindi in 2009 - at
least 40 killed.
Pakistani security forces
confirmed that at least three of these attacks
were carried out by 313 Brigade led by Ilyas
Kashmiri while the others were blamed on Pakistani
militants trained by Kashmiri (See al-Qaeda's
guerrilla chief lays out strategy Asia Times
Online, October 15, 2009.)
Military out
of step After the September 11, 2001,
attacks on the US, Pakistan's top brass took a
policy turn and joined in the US's "war on
terror", but a large chunk of officers took
retirement and with serving colleagues they helped
the Taliban. This changed the dynamics of the
Afghan war theater (see Military
brains plot Pakistan's downfall Asia Times
Online, September 26, 2007).
This
collection of former and serving officers was
responsible for a number of attacks on the
military, including on military headquarters in
2009 and against ex-president General Pervez
Musharraf.
Now, this nexus could become
active again to revive regional operations, in
addition to a possible mutiny against the top
military brass. (See Trouble
ahead in Pakistan's new US phase May 18.)
Before the incident in Karachi, Asia Times
Online was contacted by militants by telephone to
confirm future attacks in the following words: "We
don't want any trouble inside Pakistan or in the
Pakistan army, but we do want to create an
environment in which it would be conducive for
pro-Islam and patriotic elements in the armed
forces to dislodge incompetent and pro-American
military officials."
This is the third
attack on a naval installation in the past 30 days
- two were launched before Bin Laden's
assassination.
"The Pakistan navy
constituted a high-level inquiry committee after
their bases were targeted last month," a senior
security official told Asia Times Online on the
condition of anonymity. "The teams arrived to
Karachi last month and asked for our input. They
were wondering why militants were targeting the
navy as they were not involved in any anti-terror
operations. We told them that the navy's own staff
were hand-in-glove in those two attacks," the
official said.
Kashmiri's 313 Brigade,
which was earlier focused on Afghanistan, has
clearly now turned its sights on Pakistan, where
Kashmiri is known to have powerful connections
among retired and serving officials in the armed
forces. More attacks are inevitable.
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