Mehran base attack: Hearing on number of attackers on Aug 23

The petitioner asks for a full-scale investigation into the attack.

KARACHI:

A constitutional petition about the number of people who attacked the PNS Mehran base on May 22 will be heard by the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday.

The federal interior minister put the figures of the alleged attackers on a suicide mission at six with four killed and two fleeing after the attack.

The petitioner told the court that the chief of naval staff gave a different number while the FIR claimed that there were about a dozen attackers.

If they had indeed fled, it should be a cause of concern for the intelligence agencies and law enforcers.

These men managed to break in and out after a successful attack that resulted in the loss of two PC Orion aircraft, he added.

He said that initial investigations showed that the men entered PNS Mehran from the PAF base, making them responsible for weak security as well.

The president, who is the commander in chief of the armed forces, the prime minister, federal interior minister and the ISI, MI and IB directors general were named as respondents in the case.

The petitioner asked for a full-scale investigation into the attack.

“If Pakistan is attacked by an enemy, the response from our defenders would be anybody’s guess,” he claimed.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2011.