Militant attack on air base is the latest episode to unnerve Pakistan

The Pakistani army said on Saturday it had successfully repelled an attack by militants on an air base in central Pakistan. But the episode, which came just after another brutal attack on the military, has renewed concerns about the country’s precarious security situation.

The attempt to breach the Mianwali Training Air Base came a day after 14 soldiers traveling in a convoy were ambushed and killed in southwestern Baluchistan province. No group has claimed responsibility for that attack. Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan, an obscure militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack on the air base, saying its aim was to destroy aircraft they said had been used against civilians. The claim could not immediately be verified.

Defense analysts in Pakistan have noted a worrying trend of increasing attacks on military targets. More broadly, extremist violence in the country has increased significantly since the Taliban takeover of neighboring Afghanistan in 2021. That has led to increasing tensions between the Pakistani government and Taliban officials, who have criticized Pakistani accusations of harboring militants groups, including their ally the Pakistani Taliban.

According to military officials, the attack on the air base, considered a very secure facility, began around 3 a.m. when the attackers used a ladder to scale a wall. By noon, all nine attackers had been killed. The fighter jets at the air base, which are stored in concrete hangars, escaped damage, but three other aircraft described as non-operational were damaged. It was not clear whether those defending the air base suffered any casualties.

M. Ashfaque Arain, a retired air marshal, called the attacks “a worrying development” that could be linked to the activation of sleeper cells and a response to the recent deportation of Afghans living illegally in Pakistan.

Last month, in a major policy change, Pakistani authorities ordered all foreign citizens living in the country without documents to leave the country by November 1. The policy is believed to have largely targeted Afghans, and more than 70,000 of them have left. Many of them had fled the Taliban in recent weeks and some had lived in Pakistan for decades.

Shafaat Shah, a retired lieutenant general, also noted that the timing of the attacks was in line with the deadline set by Pakistan, and described a recent statement by the Taliban’s acting defense minister. warn of the consequences of deportation as ‘an open threat’.

Mr Arain said the attack on the air base was important because the facility is used for advanced fighter training. Its proximity to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, which has seen a wave of Taliban-related violence in recent months and has long been a target of militant attacks, has increased its strategic importance.

There was speculation that the increase in violence could influence and further delay the general election. They were initially scheduled to be detained this month, but the political crisis following Imran Khan’s ouster as prime minister in 2022 caused a delay. Mr Khan is in jail facing a series of charges, including corruption and sedition, all of which he denies.

After months of uncertainty about the polls, the country’s election commission announced on Thursday that elections would take place on February 8.