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.
Please pray, Hasbun-Allahu wa Ni’m-al-Wakil. Ni’m-al-Maula wa Ni’m-al-Naseer.
Allah is sufficient for us and He is the best disposer of affairs (for us).
I also find the comments very disturbing.
Nations are tested in times like this and we are clearly failing the test.
@Pakistani
I am glad you also want DG ISI to resign. I believe if one resigns in disgrace due to total incompetence, his successor will work harder to keep his job.
Right now Pakistan Armed Forces are incapable of defending the country, I am merely pointing this out. That is not equivalent to hatred against Pakistan Armed Forces, it is a desire to improve their miserable performance.
What a tragedy. Even bigger tragedy is reading the comments here.
Any other nation would come together in times like this.
In Pakistan we seem to be dividing further and breaking apart.
@Bangash
I want DG ISI to resign to. But then what. You think this would not have happened if he had resigned? Who are you kidding. For once think of Pakistan rather than just your hatred for military. No nation can survive this way. No one hates Paksitan more than Pakistanis themselves. No one bad mouths us more than we do ourselves.