After the terrorist attack on Mehran naval aviation base in Karachi, Commodore Khalid Pervaiz has taken charge as the new base commander after Raja Tahir was suspended from the position, as an investigation team formed to probe the incident began work and sealed a possible hideout of the terrorists in Shah Faisal Colony, Pakistan Today learned on Wednesday.
Tahir has been suspended apparently because his inability to thwart the well-organised terrorist attack on Sunday night that led to the death of at least 14 officers and the destruction of two PC-3 Orion aircraft. Sources said Tahir would remain suspended until the inquiry into the attack was completed. They said two of the six terrorists helped their four accomplices in scaling the wall of the airbase and left the scene. The fact that astonished investigators was that the attackers passed by a fleet of US-supplied C-130 aircraft but did not target the planes.
“It seems that the PC-3 Orion was the main target of the attackers,” a security expert said, adding that no PC-3 Orion had ever been part of an operation against militants in the tribal areas. An investigation team was formed following the attack, headed by Rear Admiral Tehseenullah, and had started work. Representatives of the Federal Investigation Agency and Karachi police are also member of the team, which began taking the statements of navy personnel and employees who were on duty on Sunday. Sources said the Crime Investigation Department, Special Investigation Unit and other investigation teams of Karachi police were also carrying out investigations in this regard.
Sources said that on a tip-off, intelligence agencies had raided a house in Shah Faisal Colony but could not make any arrest and sealed the possible militant hideout adjacent to the naval base. “The house was being used by unknown suspects who never made any contact with any residents of the area. They were out of the area and used this house only for few days. The suspects never came back to this house after the attack on PNS Mehran,” a resident of the area told investigators. Police also deployed four plainclothesmen in front of the house.
Nation will be taken into confidence on PNS Mehran investigations: PM
KARACHI – The nation will be taken into confidence as soon as the PNS Mehran fiasco’s investigation report is completed, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Wednesday, adding that there was no confusion regarding the exact number of terrorists. He was talking to reporters after visiting Aga Khan University Hospital on Wednesday to enquire after Pir Pagara, leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Functional .He was accompanied by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan and Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
The PM said he did not know the exact number of terrorists, adding that terrorists wanted to create uncertainty and chaos. The government and all its institutions were determined to defeat the evil designs of such elements, he added. He said he had summoned the Cabinet Defense Committee in which security arrangements and strategies to get rid of terrorism will be discussed in depth. He then left for Benazirabad to express condolence on Hakim Zardari’s death. Staff Report
