Geo Pakistan

 4 navy staff martyred, 9 injured in PNS Mehran attack

 Updated at: 0340 PST,  Monday, May 23, 2011
 KARACHI: Gunmen armed with rockets and explosives stormed a PNS Mehran, triggering gunbattles that martyred four navy staff and injured nine others on Monday.

Fighting was still continuing almost five hours after the attack began.

There was no claim of responsibility

Officials estimated that up to 15 militants crept up to the base on three sides, using the cover of night to approach seemingly undetected through neighbouring civilian residential areas and through trees and foliage.

"The attackers first fired rockets," Navy spokesman Commander Salman Ali said, denying any staff had been taken hostage but conceding that a long-range Orion aircraft had been destroyed.

"The terrorists also used small bombs and now they are firing with sophisticated weapons. They are inside and still resisting. They have destroyed an aircraft," he added, around three hours after the attack began.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the assault, and ordered his interior minister to Karachi to "coordinate the security efforts being taken by the civil and military officials," his office said in a statement.

Salman said four Navy personnel including one officer had been killed and nine others wounded.

"The operation is still going on. There are believed to be 10 to 15 terrorists. We are being extremely cautious for the safety of our assets," he said. (AFP)