'Mehran base attackers had inside help'

The terrorist attack on a key Pakistani naval airbase last month during which 10 security personnel were killed and two maritime surveillance aircraft destroyed was carried out with "inside support", senior Pakistani military officials told a Parliamentary panel.

The naval officials told the Standing Committee on Defence of the National Assembly or lower house of Parliament during an in-camera briefing that "insiders" were involved in the attack on PNS Mehran airbase in Karachi on May 22, TV news channels and newspapers reported on Thursday.

There was no official word on the development. The deputy chief of the Pakistani Navy and an Air Vice Marshal gave a two-hour briefing to the Parliamentary panel behind closed doors.

They told the panel that the information about "inside support" was based on the findings of an internal inquiry committee, the media reports said.

Ten security personnel were killed and two P3C Orion maritime surveillance aircraft, each worth over $30 million, destroyed during the attack on PNS Mehran.

The attackers besieged the airbase for over 16 hours before they were killed by security forces or blew themselves up. Responsibility for any lapses in the incident will be fixed after a joint investigation team completes its probe; the media quoted the military officials as telling the Parliamentary panel.

The internal inquiry committee has already completed its work. A statement issued by the National Assembly Secretariat said four terrorists were involved in the attack. There were considerable discrepancies in information provided by officials about the number of terrorists involved in the attack.

Interior minister Rehman Malik had claimed the attack was carried out by six terrorists, four of whom were killed while two escaped. However, the First Information Report filed by the navy initially said up to 12 attackers were involved but the number was  subsequently revised.

The Parliamentary panel decided to take up the matter again after the joint investigation team completed its work.

Standing Committee on Defence Chairperson Azra Fazal Pechuho, the sister of President Asif Ali Zardari, assured the members of the panel that responsibility will be fixed after the final report on the incident is received.

Pechuho said the panel suggested guidelines to improve the security of important assets to prevent similar attacks in future. The Pakistan Taliban had claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden in a United States raid on Abbottabad on May 2.

Taliban commander Waliur Rehman told Al-Arabiya news channel that the attack on PNS Mehran was the first of 10 attacks planned by the militants on important Pakistani installations.