Pakistan foils terror attack on its Air Force Training Base

By Nasir Aijaz
The AsiaN Representative

ISLAMABAD: The security forces thwarted a terrorist attack on the Pakistan Air Force’s (PAF) Training Air Base in Mianwali area of Punjab province in the wee hours of Saturday and eliminated three militants, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

According to the military’s media wing, “On 04 November 2023, in the early hours of the day, Mianwali Training Air Base of Pakistan Air Force came under a failed terrorist attack which, due to the swift and effective response by the troops, has been foiled and thwarted, ensuring the safety and security of personnel and assets.”

The statement said that three terrorists were neutralized while entering the base while the remaining three were isolated due to a timely and effective response by the troops, who demonstrated exceptional courage and timely response.

“However, during the attack, some damage to three already grounded aircraft and a fuel bowser also occurred,” the statement read.

It further added that a comprehensive joint clearance and combing operation is in the final stages to completely clear the area.

“Pakistan Armed Forces remain committed to eliminating the menace of terrorism from the country at all costs,” said the ISPR.

On the other hand, Reuters reported that a spokesman for terrorist group Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP) had claimed responsibility for the PAF base attack carried out on Saturday morning.

TJP came to the fore only this year and little is known about the group, which has carried out a string of high-profile attacks in the country, including killing 12 soldiers at a Pakistani military base in the southwestern province of Balochistan in July.

A day earlier, 14 soldiers were martyred in a terrorist attack on two vehicles carrying security forces in Gwadar. The incident occurred when the security convoy was moving from Pasni to Ormara in Gwadar district of Balochistan province.

Meanwhile, two terrorists, including a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) suicide bomber, were killed while two others were injured in separate intelligence-based operations in different areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday.

Three soldiers also lost their lives in one of the operations and a separate incident of an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in the Kulachi area of Dera Ismail Khan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhaw province.

In a separate Intelligence-based Operation conducted in Lakki Marwat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhaw, the security forces busted various terrorist hideouts, killing one terrorist.

Unfortunately, two soldiers lost their lives while fighting gallantly in an intense exchange of fire.

Moreover, another soldier embraced martyrdom in an IED blast in the Kulachi area of DI Khan.

Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), in a report released in October noted that the security forces lost at least 386 personnel in the first nine months of 2023, marking an eight-year high.

In the third quarter of 2023, some 445 people lost their lives and 440 suffered injuries from as many as 190 terror attacks and counter-terror operations.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan were the primary centers of violence, accounting for nearly 94% of all fatalities and 89% of attacks (including incidents of terrorism and security forces operations) recorded during this period.