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                        <title>The Express Tribune</title>
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			<title>Investigating intelligence failures</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/384905/investigating-intelligence-failures</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/384905/investigating-intelligence-failures#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 27 May 12 17:08:35 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[No steps have been taken to reform security institutions on the lines recommended by the judicial commission.]]>
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				<![CDATA[A little over a year ago, the Pakistan Navy aviation base Mehran was attacked by the Taliban minions of al Qaeda to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden at Abbottabad on May 2, 2011. The attackers killed 10 people and destroyed two expensive P3C Orion reconnaissance aircraft. The event, a 17-hour siege of the base, shocked the entire nation and sapped the confidence of those willing to fight terrorism in Pakistan. Aware of the gravity of the attack, the Pakistan Navy formed a Board of Investigation to probe the siege at PNS Mehran on May 22, 2011. It announced its findings and has court-martialled three naval officers and sentenced them for “negligence of duty”.

Objectivity and balance was lost in Pakistan over the death of Osama bin Laden. By becoming offended over ‘why’ and ‘how’ Osama was killed, we lost sight of what his death meant in terms of internal peace. The smoke that arose from that bout of irrelevant fury obscured the fact that the only immediate enemy of Pakistan were the affiliates of al Qaeda. In fact, we switched the enemies label after May 2, perhaps, hoping that the ‘terrorists’ fighting a war ‘which is not ours’ will look at this switch with favour. Then journalist Saleem Shahzad reporting on al Qaeda from the inside was murdered, a few days after he had written an article claiming that al Qaeda had managed to find sympathisers inside the navy and that some of these were under investigation.

Before his death, Mr Shahzad had disclosed to human rights organisations that he feared that the state’s intelligence agencies, and the ISI in particular, were after him and that they were to be held responsible if any harm came to him. His body was found with torture marks on it but, with the passage of time, his death more and more looks like a ‘mistake’ on the part of his tormentors who probably had orders only to ‘teach him a lesson’, and not to kill him. Since then, a judicial commission has delivered its verdict on his death and has made far-reaching recommendations about the reorganisation of the country’s intelligence institutions. This was, of course, in recognition by the honourable commission of the circumstantial evidence placed before it. The recommendations would make these organisations more answerable to the government, and therefore, more responsible in their conduct. Above all, a proper follow-up reform of such organisations would have scotched the rumours that proliferate about the activity of these important national security watchdogs.

Unfortunately, one year on, no steps have been taken to reform the security institutions on the lines recommended by the judicial commission. In fact, the non-action over the Mehran base attack, with three senior officers let off with what seems nothing more than a slap on the wrist, has been overtaken by another scandal also somewhat similarly named: Mehrangate. This scandal of money-gouging by intelligence agencies has not only shaken them to their foundations but also brought a bad name to the army. A retired ISI chief says he did bribe politicians with money thus grabbed and that he did so with the approval and oversight of the then army chief, who for his part has denied any role in the matter. Had the reforms of the ISI and other intelligence agencies been carried out in light of the Saleem Shahzad judicial commission’s recommendations, some of the complications that have occurred since then could have been avoided.

The PNS Mehran attack has hardly been resolved in the minds of the people, which is unfortunate. The terrorists are winning the publicity battle, as was evidenced by the most shameful jailbreak at Bannu. The jail contained dangerous criminals. After the jailbreak, the Taliban proudly claimed that they had spent Rs20 million in bribes alone. CDs of the attack are being sold openly in markets in the area. Clearly, no lessons have been learnt by the establishment following even an attack as brazen as the one on PNS Mehran. That is not a good sign because it serves to only embolden the militants and the terrorists and tells ordinary peace-loving Pakistanis that the state is not serious about fighting al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 28th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>One year on: Three navy officials court-martialled for ‘negligence’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/382354/one-year-on-three-navy-officials-court-martialled-for-%e2%80%98negligence%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/382354/one-year-on-three-navy-officials-court-martialled-for-%e2%80%98negligence%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 22 May 12 04:14:16 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Two P3C reconnaissance aircraft were destroyed in the attack.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Exactly one year ago, a group of terrorists mounted a daring attack on an aviation base of Pakistan Navy in Karachi, killing 10 people and destroying two P3C Orion reconnaissance aircraft.


Though the mastermind remains at large, three navy officers have been court-martialled and sentenced for ‘negligence of duty’.

The navy had formed a Board of Investigation to probe the 17-hour siege at PNS Mehran on May 22, 2011.

A navy spokesperson said that in light of the recommendations of the Board of Investigation, disciplinary action has been taken in accordance with the Pakistan Navy law against the officials for negligence of duty. The threat level has not diminished since the attack and the navy remains on guard to this day.

The overall security of naval units, including PNS Mehran, has also been reevaluated and strengthened, the spokesperson added.

Who did it?

Interior Minister Rehman Malik made headlines for his disingenuous  comments in which he called the attackers ‘Star Wars’ characters.

Even before DNA tests could have been done, the authorities set off a guessing game about the identity of the attackers, some calling them Indian intelligence agents and others identifying them as Uzbek militants.

Even the exact number of attackers was lost in this mist of confusion. Initially, Interior Minister Malik put their number at six – two being killed and the rest escaping after the attack. But according to the First Information Report of the case, the attackers were 10 in number.

Now, a video purportedly released by the Taliban claims that the PNS Mehran attack was carried out by four of its members.

In the video, titled ‘Revenge of Sheikh Osama [bin Laden]’, which is also available with The Express Tribune, the four attackers are shown reading out from a written statement before the attack.

It’s difficult to independently verify the authenticity of the video, but the terrorists shown in the video are the same whose bodies were found at the end of the 17-hour siege.

One of the terrorists in the video says that the PNS Mehran attack was a revenge for the killing of Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda chief who was killed in a top secret raid by US commandos in Abbottabad on May 2, 2011.

Although the terrorists claimed that the attack was a ‘revenge’ for Bin Laden’s killing, what is not clear is why navy buses were targeted with IEDs on April 26 and 28.

Slain journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad had claimed in one of his last reports that the attack on the navy buses and PNS Mehran was due to the fact that some navy personnel had been recruited by al Qaeda’s Illyas Kashmiri group that works closely with the TTP.  Navy officials, however, rubbished Saleem’s claim as an outright lie.

Court-martial

Former base commander of PNS Mehran Commodore Raja Tahir, commanding officer Captain Israr and base security officer Abrar were court-martialled.

However, they were not found to be complicit in the incident and were merely charged with ‘negligence of duty’. None of them were put behind bars.

However, navy sources say that their careers have effectively been ruined since the officers have lost their seniority privileges and all operational commands have been taken away from them.

Inquiry report

The task of conducting a detailed investigation into the incident was given to Pakistan Navy’s senior officer Rear Admiral Tehseenullah Khan.

According to a navy official, the findings of the report are ‘complete’ and have been sent to the ‘concerned authorities’. The exact findings of the report are being kept a closely guarded secret.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22nd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>PNS Mehran: Base commander, including three officers court-martialed</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/382076/pns-mehran-three-officers-including-base-commander-court-martialed</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/382076/pns-mehran-three-officers-including-base-commander-court-martialed#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 21 May 12 16:39:19 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[The officers were found irresponsible and negligent of their duties. They have not been given a jail sentence.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Almost a year after it was attacked, a military court hearing the PNS Mehran base attack, court-martialed three officers, Express News reported on Monday.

According to details, an investigation team comprising police, navy, air force and intelligence agencies, had found Base Commander Commodore Raja Tahir, Commanding Officer Israr, Air Base Security Officer Lieutenant Commander Absar irresponsible and negligent of their duties.

Sources said that the court had handed down sentences a few days ago, in line with Pakistan Navy laws. They added that the defendants were given equal chances to clear their names.

While they have been sentenced, no details of the extent of their punishments were revealed, except that they were not given a jail term.

As many as 10 terrorists had managed to storm the naval base in Karachi on May 22, 2011. They held off security personnel for 17 hours, destroying two P3C Orion surveillance aircraft in the process. At least 17 personnel were also killed in the attack.]]>
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			<title>Unknown assailants: After 10 months, PNS Mehran attackers buried</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/355046/unknown-assailants-after-10-months-pns-mehran-attackers-buried-national</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/355046/unknown-assailants-after-10-months-pns-mehran-attackers-buried-national#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 26 Mar 12 04:48:50 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Salman Siddiqui]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=355046</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[With no claims by relatives and trails gone cold, officials allow burial .]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The bodies of four terrorists involved in a brazen attack on Pakistan Navy’s main aviation base on May 22, 2011 have been finally buried in unmarked graves for the unknown.

The dramatic siege on the PNS Mehran base in Karachi lasted 17 hours, leaving at least 10 security personnel dead and destroying two P3C Orion reconnaissance aircraft.

The bodies had been languishing at an Edhi morgue in the months since, but were eventually buried after painstaking intelligence surveillance work went in vain. The authorities had hoped that relatives of the dead would come forward to claim the bodies, but none did.

The bodies were kept at the Edhi morgue after the attack with the express orders from authorities that, unless they give the go-ahead, they should not be laid to rest.

“We finally got the go-ahead a few weeks ago and now they’ve been buried in one of our graveyards for the unknown,” the welfare organisation Edhi’s representative Anwar Kazmi said.

A number of DNA samples were collected from the mutilated bodies during the time the bodies were at the morgue, but despite many tests no conclusive results of their identity could be ascertained. Even matches from the database of NADRA were inconclusive.

Sources close to the investigation revealed that the intelligence agencies were hoping that some of the relatives of the dead would eventually come forward to claim the bodies.

“This has happened in the past and we were able to track down associates of terrorists when their families came forward to claim their dead,” a senior intelligence official said.

However, the authorities remained unlucky with the remains of the PNS Mehran attackers and ordered their bodies to be disposed of.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 26th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Tribune’s Gamechangers 2011: PNS Mehran attackers</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/317647/tribune%e2%80%99s-gamechangers-2011-pns-mehran-attackers</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/317647/tribune%e2%80%99s-gamechangers-2011-pns-mehran-attackers#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 08 Jan 12 10:38:23 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[Holding off an organised force for over 17 hours.]]>
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				<![CDATA[They came in the dark of the night, dressed like characters from Star Wars and managed to expose the security apparatus of the country.

In what is seen as one of the most sophisticated terrorist attacks in recent history, less than 10 men (according to the FIR and Interior Minister Rehman Malik) entered PNS Mehran, the Navy’s airbase in Karachi, and managed to destroy two P3C Orion aircraft and killing over 15 security personnel in a standoff that last for more than 10 hours. Some of the terrorists were even reported to have escaped from the scene after the attack.

Rumors were abound after the assault, of sophisticated weaponry – night goggles, sniper rifles etc. Even more worrisome was the fact that the men knew their way around the base.

The possibility of help from inside the Navy’s commando force and arrests of some personnel were not good signs either, considering the maritime force was attacked on two occasions before the final assault.

An organised enemy working on the inside is the biggest worry for the security apparatus, and the fact that less than 10 men held off a larger force totally changes the game.

Quote: “They were dressed like Star Wars characters.”]]>
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