By USMAN ANSARI
ISLAMABAD — An attack in the very early hours of Friday morning on two Pakistani air bases was thwarted largely due to improved security measures that show the military has learned lessons from previous attacks, say analysts.
Militants belonging to the Pakistan Taliban’s (TTP) Ghalib Mehsud faction’s suicide wing, the Fidayeen Islam, launched simultaneous attacks on the airbases of Khalid and Samungli near the provincial capital of Quetta in Balochistan.
Samungli is a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) base that shares a runway with Quetta International Airport, and Khalid is an Army aviation airbase that is 12 kilometers away.
Though the attackers, who are thought to have been of Uzbek origin, and some of the more feared operatives in or associated with the TTP, tried to storm the airbases using automatic weapons, grenades and rocket propelled grenades, they were beaten back.
Twelve were killed after gun battles with the defending police and security forces. Five suspected attackers have been apprehended.
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