On air at 1100GMT: Karachi naval base attack
| 10:08 UK time, Monday, 23 May 2011
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An audacious siege of a Pakistan naval base has ended, after the raid left at least 12 soldiers dead. Government troops have now taken back control of the Mehran naval aviation base in Karachi.The attackers were said to have taken hostages after storming the base overnight. it's thought ome militants may still be in the compound.
Eyewitnesses say the militants used rocket-propelled grenades to damage and destroy several warplanes. These included the Pakistan navy's premier anti-submarine attack jet - the US-made P-3C Orion. At least two of these multi-million dollar aircraft were set ablaze.
The Pakistan Taliban told Reuters that the raid was to avenge Osama Bin Laden's killing earlier this month,
"It was the revenge of martyrdom of Osama Bin Laden. It was the proof that we are still united and powerful,"
Is this part of Pakistan paying the price? If so, is it a price worth paying? And is the country a less safe place since bin Laden's death?
says that this is just the beginning for Pakistan
"The brazen al-Qaeda-linked attack on the Pakistan navy's Mehran air base in the southern port city of Karachi on Sunday night marks the violent beginning of an internal ideological struggle between Islamist elements in the Pakistani armed forces and their secular and liberal top brass. "
The attack comes just hours after President Obama told the Ö÷²¥´óÐã that while he respects Pakistan's sovereignty, he wouldn't hesitate to carry out a similar operation to the one that killed Osama bin Laden. It comes ahead of his four day tour to Europe, starting in Ireland today
Is President Obama right? Or does the violence in Pakistan following Bin Laden's death demonstrate why operations like this must not be carried out again?
