Adil Najam
A series of explosions and blasts have been reported in Karachi in and around various military installations, including the Mehran Naval Aviation base. Multiple explosions were reported from the PAF area near Shahrah-e-Faisal in Karachi. Flames from within the Air Force compound have been shown on television and reportedly some of the attackers are still inside the military compound where fighting continues.
Details remain sketchy and continue to evolve by the minute. Meanwhile, some are already calling this a “Mumbai-like” operation with choreographed multiple points of attack and mention is being made of possibly hostages being taken within a particular part of the compound.
According to Dawn:
Several explosions have been heard near the PAF Museum on Dalmia Road in Karachi. The force of the blasts have shattered the windows of surrounding buildings, reports said. Heavy gunfire was also reported after the explosion. An eyewitness said that the blasts took place near the gate of Faisal Base.
A large fire and a thick cloud of smoke has also been reported. Police have sealed the area. “We are trying to check the cause of the blast. I cannot say,” said a senior police official. Another police official said gunfire was also reported from inside the base, Reuters reported. “Several blasts were heard inside, the firing is still continuing,” Aslam Khan, a senior police officer at site told AFP.
According to The News:
Four people were killed in an armed attack Sunday by terrorists on PNS Mehran, a heavily guarded base of Pakistan Navy, located along Sharea Faisal, according to a foreign news agency. TV images showed flames rising in the air from PNS Mehran where terrorists blew up a US made P-3C Orion plane of Pakistan Navy.
Five injured in the incident were shifted to a local hospital. Additional personnel of security forces were also seen moving inside PNS Mehran. Electricity of the entire area has also been shut down. Earlier, four blasts were reported from the area near PAF base Faisal.
Ambulances and fire tenders were seen rushing toward the base following the powerful blasts that were heard across a wide radius. Gunshots fired from sophisticated weapons were also heard following the blasts. It is pertinent to mention here that in the previous weeks three buses of Pakistan Navy had been attacked by terrorists in the metropolitan city of Karachi.
@ Asim
You are 100% correct when you state “Everything changed back when “Khuda Hafiz” ….” and we are all to blame for this.
It is regretted that the media in Pakistan is only interested in sensitisation instead of diverting some energy towards changing uneducated peoples mindset in a subtle manner that takes a nation forward.
We have self-serving hypocrite dual national politicians who are only interested in retaining their power base, accumulate and hoard as much as they can and in the process promote extremisms.
No doubt. This was a big tragedy. It is important that we fight militancy in Pakistan and also support our allies who are in the same direction and us.
Addendum to my last post:
Desperate people in my last post can be defined as lazy people who think working their way to achieve success that they deserve is too difficult for them. So they are taking a shortcut to reach their ultimate end quicker.
As for how anyone one can convince these lazzy asses that the idea of heaven and hell was created to control and manipulate the minds population with very little or no additional effort,
@ Mike. This totally depends on whose side you are on. Martyr to one side may be terrorist to the other and vice versa.
The biggest problem is there is no tunnel in sight, so light at end of the tunnel is unimaginable. When desperate people are so broken and hopeless, they can be easily excited just by the mere thought of heaven and its supposed offerings….they so want to get out of their current stage, that convincing them to go on a suicide mission is something that anyone, much less a mullah can do.
Why is our media not doing anything creative to unite Pakistanis?