Pak launches probe into Taliban attack on Kamra airbase

The Pakistan Air Force on Friday launched an investigation into a Taliban attack on a key airbase that left two security personnel and nine militants dead, officials said.

An investigation committee led by Air Marshal Athar Hussain Bukhari had formally started a probe into on Thursday's attack on the Kamra airbase in Punjab province, said PAF spokesman Group Captain Tariq Mahmood.

The committee visited the Karma airbase on Friday as part of its investigation, Mahmood said.

A group of heavily armed terrorists yesterday launched a pre-dawn attack on the airbase at Kamra, 60 km northwest of Islamabad.

Nine terrorists and two security personnel were killed during a three-hour gun battle at the base.

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out to avenge the killing of Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud and Osama bin Laden.

In a separate development, PAF chief Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt on Friday visited the Kamra airbase, including the portion where the security forces fought the terrorists.

Butt was given a briefing about the sequence of events by Air Marshal Sohail Gul Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex.

He also met Air Commodore Muhammad Azam, the commander of the Kamra airbase, who was injured while leading the operation against the terrorists.

The PAF chief also met three security personnel who sustained superficial injuries due to the detonation of suicide jacket during the operation against the attackers.