Taliban storm Pak air base that stores nuke warheads

[Casino67]

Times of India:

ISLAMABAD: Less than 48 hours after the US defence secretary reiterated that Washington's biggest fear was that Pakistan's nuclear weapons would fall into the hands of terrorists, heavily-armed Taliban fighters stormed a high-security airbase, where some of the country's 100 nuclear warheads are believed to be stored, near Islamabad on Thursday. A five-hour gunfight left nine attackers and a soldier dead and the base commander among the many wounded.

 

One aircraft was damaged earlier when the attackers fired rocket-propelled grenades from outside the Minhas base in Kamra town, about 40km northwest of Islamabad. It is home to US-built F-16s and a factory that builds Mirage fighter planes and China-made JF-17 fighter jets .

 

"All militants involved in the attack were killed. One soldier lost his life while Air Commodore Muhammad Azam, who led the operation against the attackers, was injured," the Pakistan air force spokesman said. "The terrorists, wearing military uniforms, were armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades. The bodies of the six dead militants were found strapped with suicide jackets."

 

The raid underscored US defence secretary Leon Panetta's concerns. The great danger, he said on Tuesday, was that Pakistan's N-weapons could fall into the wrong hands.

 

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