Pak suspends navy base commander after attack

Pakistan on Wednesday suspended a top commander of the country's major naval air base, three days after a brazen attack by Taliban militants, which killed 10 navy personnel and destroyed two spy planes in the port city Karachi, television channels reported.

Geo television reported that the Base Commander Commodore Raja Tahir, will remain suspended till the inquiry into the terror attack is completed. Commodore Khalid Pervez has been appointed as new commander of the PNS Mehran naval base in Karachi. Other TV channels reported that it was a routine transfer and posting.

A high-level committee has already started investigation into the audacious attack, which raised fears about the ability of the militants to strike in sensitive areas.

Geo TV reported that four former navy officers, who have already been convicted for helping the militants in attacks on defence facilities, have also been questioned about the Sunday's attack. The four convicts, now languishing in a prison in Rawalpindi, were questioned if they had any information about the attack. They had never been posted at PNS Mehran, according to reports.

Details about the attacks appearing in the local media suggest that two militants facilitated four members of the suicide squad entering the naval base. The facilitators fled after the four militants entered the base, Geo television reported.

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, which claimed responsibility for the attack, earlier said the attack was meant to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden in a United States raid in Abbottabad on May 2.