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A day after shifting the base commander, the Pakistani Navy on Thursday said that all personnel deployed at Mehran airbase would be probed following reports that the attackers might have had inside help.
All personnel on PNS Mehran, which was stormed by a group of heavily-armed terrorists on Sunday night, were being questioned about their whereabouts and activities on the day of the attack, Geo News channel said.
Investigators had found a hi-tech wireless system in an area where two of the attackers were killed, suggesting that the terrorists were in touch with persons outside the airbase who might have been directing the attack, the channel reported.
Security forces also conducted a search operation in areas around the naval airbase and questioned people who worked in nearby fields, the report said. Sniffer dogs were used in the search.
Investigators told the channel that the attackers had fired over 1,100 rounds and seven rockets. A wedding hall run by the air force at another airbase near PNS Mehran and the air force museum were closed amid speculation that people who visited these two locations could have conducted surveillance for the attack.
The attackers killed 10 security personnel and destroyed two P3C Orion maritime surveillance aircraft during a 16-hour standoff within the airbase. Four attackers were killed or blew themselves up while two more were believed to have escaped.
The navy has formed an inquiry committee led by Rear Admiral Tehsinullah Khan to probe the incident. Representatives of naval intelligence and the Federal Investigation Agency are part of the committee. The commander of PNS Mehran was removed from his post on Wednesday.
In a related development, the Pakistan Navy revised the number of attackers cited in a First Information Report registered with police from 10-12 to four, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.
The new figure runs in line with the one provided by Interior minister Rehman Malik, who said that the attack was carried out by six terrorists. Senior investigation officer Sajjad Ali said, "None of (the security personnel) saw more than four terrorists. In fact, some only saw three."
Unnamed naval officers said they suspected the attack could not have been carried out without "inside help".
They noted that the attackers had entered the naval airbase, and not the air force installation, as they seemed to know that the navys "prized assets" such as the Orion aircraft and Chinese and American nationals were present at PNS Mehran.
One officer said the attackers knew the base "inside out" and were aware of points where they would have "an advantage over the security forces" who would engage them.
The naval officers said they suspected that reconnaissance prior to the attack was carried out by someone who recorded video footage of the base from a nearby bridge and by someone from inside the sprawling base where over 500 personnel are deployed at any given time.
An autopsy report on the bodies of the terrorists states they were "Muslim males between the ages of 22 and 26", The Express Tribune reported. Doctor said the autopsy revealed the attackers were circumcised.
Image: A plume of smoke rises after an explosion at the Mehran naval aviation base which was attacked by militants in Karachi
Photograph: Reuters