Kamra airbase attack: Court martial against 3 PAF officers begins
The low-ranking officials are being tried for their ‘negligence’ to prevent the terrorist attack in 2012.
Photo file Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Kamra. PHOTO: AFP
ISLAMABAD:
Court martial against three low-ranking officials of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has begun for their negligence to prevent the terrorist attack on Minhas Airbase at Kamra in 2012, BBC Urdu reported on Tuesday.
Senior aircraftman Shawaiz Khan, senior technician Zafar Iqbal and Corporal Technician Mirza Waseem Iqbal were formally arrested recently in connection with August 16, 2012, terror attack.
A military source earlier told The Express Tribune that the officials were not facing court martial for their involvement in terror attack rather they were indicted over charges of negligence.
Attack
The strategically important airbase came under attack when at least nine militants stormed the base destroying a Saab 2000 surveillance aircraft and killing a security official. All nine militants were later killed in shootout with security forces.
Several squadrons of fighters and surveillance planes are said to be housed at the Minhas base. Over 30 planes were parked at the base, including JF-17 Thunder fighter jets at the time of attack.
The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack saying it was a revenge of May 2011 secret US raid that killed Osama Bin Laden in his Abbottabad compound.
The airbase, located 70 km north of the capital, is a heavily guarded compound with the air force’s Kamra Aeronautical Complex also in its vicinity, where Pakistan assembles and overhauls JF-17 Thunder fighter jets in collaboration with China.
The key strategic installations of PAF and Navy have been the target of militants.
In 2009, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra. Two security officers and six other people were killed in the attack.
In 2011, six Taliban gunmen attacked a naval base in Karachi to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden. At least 10 military personnel were killed and 20 wounded in the 16-hour assault.
Court martial against three low-ranking officials of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has begun for their negligence to prevent the terrorist attack on Minhas Airbase at Kamra in 2012, BBC Urdu reported on Tuesday.
Senior aircraftman Shawaiz Khan, senior technician Zafar Iqbal and Corporal Technician Mirza Waseem Iqbal were formally arrested recently in connection with August 16, 2012, terror attack.
A military source earlier told The Express Tribune that the officials were not facing court martial for their involvement in terror attack rather they were indicted over charges of negligence.
Attack
The strategically important airbase came under attack when at least nine militants stormed the base destroying a Saab 2000 surveillance aircraft and killing a security official. All nine militants were later killed in shootout with security forces.
Several squadrons of fighters and surveillance planes are said to be housed at the Minhas base. Over 30 planes were parked at the base, including JF-17 Thunder fighter jets at the time of attack.
The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack saying it was a revenge of May 2011 secret US raid that killed Osama Bin Laden in his Abbottabad compound.
The airbase, located 70 km north of the capital, is a heavily guarded compound with the air force’s Kamra Aeronautical Complex also in its vicinity, where Pakistan assembles and overhauls JF-17 Thunder fighter jets in collaboration with China.
The key strategic installations of PAF and Navy have been the target of militants.
In 2009, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra. Two security officers and six other people were killed in the attack.
In 2011, six Taliban gunmen attacked a naval base in Karachi to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden. At least 10 military personnel were killed and 20 wounded in the 16-hour assault.