Taliban gunmen killed 29 people, including 16 praying in a mosque, when they stormed a Pakistani air force base on Friday, in the deadliest Taliban attack on a military installation in the country’s history. The 13 gunmen were also killed in the attack on Badaber air base, close to the northwestern city of Peshawar. The assault shows the Taliban retains the capability to mount devastating attacks despite a military campaign and a government crackdown against them following the massacre of more than 150 people, mostly children, at an army-run school last December.
We proudly claim responsibility for the attack on Pakistani air base.
Taliban spokesman Muhammad Khorasani
“The terrorist group used two gates. They came close to the gate and disembarked from their cars and then they used rocket launchers and grenades and fired as they entered the gate,” said Major General Asim Bajwa, who said the attack has been masterminded in Afghanistan. A reaction force arrived within 10 minutes and the attackers were contained close to the areas where they entered, he said. But they were still able to enter the mosque and killed 16 of those inside, he said. Mohammad Ikram of the Pakistani Air Force, who offering his morning prayers at the time the attack began, said most of those inside the mosque were hit by gunfire in the attack claimed by the Taliban.