Taliban militants kill at least 29 people at Pakistani air force base

The Pakistani Taliban launched a brazen assault on a military base on the outskirts of Peshawar early Friday, storming a mosque inside the sprawling compound and killing 16 worshippers. (AP)

Taliban militants carried out their deadliest attack against the Pakistani military in more than six months on Friday when they stormed an air force compound near Peshawar and killed at least 29 people inside a mosque.

The attack unfolded shortly before dawn when 13 Pakistani Taliban militants entered the compound from two different directions, according to Asim Bajwa, chief spokesman for Pakistan’s military. Security officials quickly engaged the militants, but at least one of them managed to enter the mosque as morning prayers were underway.

The death toll includes 22 air force personnel and three army officers, authorities said. At least 20 other army or air force personnel were injured during the clashes.

In a statement, the Pakistani Taliban asserted responsibility for the attack, saying it was in retaliation for the ongoing military operation in the country’s northwestern tribal belt.

But in a sign of possible wider fallout, Bajwa said investigators obtained recordings that “reveal the attack was controlled from Afghanistan.” Taliban factions have strongholds on both sides of the border.

Eventually, all 13 terrorists were shot and killed before they could penetrate “deep” into the compound, Bajwa said.

The attack was the boldest, and deadliest, Pakistani Taliban operation since it killed more than 20 people inside a Shiite mosque in February. That attack came on the heels of the group’s assault on an army run school in Peshawar in December, which killed about 150 students and teachers.

After that attack, the army intensified its war against the Pakistani Taliban, which at the time was largely based in North Waziristan.

Over the past nine months, Pakistani military officials say they have largely driven the Taliban from the country’s tribal regions. There has also been a steep decline in terrorist attacks inside Pakistan so far this year.

But both Pakistan and Western officials have been warning that retaliatory strikes from the Taliban were still likely. Though Pakistani security officials say they have arrested or killed thousands of Islamist militants this year, Pakistani Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah remains at large and is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan.

The air force base, called Camp Badaber, was originally constructed in the late 1950s as a CIA surveillance base during the heart of the Cold War. After the CIA abandoned the base in the 1970s, it became a Pakistani air force housing compound. But the camp is located about five miles from the airstrip that houses fighter jets and transport planes.

Pakistan’s army chief, Raheel Sharif, rushed to Peshawar midday on Friday to oversee the crisis. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also issued a statement saying the attack won’t diminish the army’s resolve to combat terrorism.

“The armed forces of the country have the full support of the entire nation and soon the networks of terrorists (will) be eliminated from Pakistan,” Sharif said.

Friday’s attacks shows the continued vulnerability of Peshawar, one of Pakistan’s largest cities, to major terrorist attacks. The city is bordered on three sides by country’s tribal belt. It also the crossroad between the rest of Pakistan and Afghanistan, which has also been struggling to overcome the threat posed by Islamist militants.

But local officials in Peshawar say they remain confident that Peshawar remains on track to overcome its history of violence.

According to police statistics, Peshawar and the rest of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province experienced 50 terrorist attacks during the first eight months of this year, compared to 158 during the same period in 2014.

“We are cutting the militants way from entering into the city but there are many routes from where they can enter,” said Mushtaq Ghani, a spokesman for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government. “We are at war and such scattered attacks are possible.”

Haq Nawaz Khan in Peshawar and Shaiq Hussain in Islamabad contributed to this report.

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Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Tim Craig is The Post’s bureau chief in Pakistan. He has also covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and within the District of Columbia government.

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