Mianwali attack indicates Pak Army’s failures on many fronts

INTERNATIONAL DESK: The storming of Pakistan Air Force’s training base at Mianwali in Punjab by several terrorists early this month indicates the terrorist group’s intention to renew its attacks against Pakistan military’s strategic assets.The attackers were from Tehreek-i-Jihad Pakistan (TJP), a newly emerged militant group said to be an affiliate of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Noted defence expert Dr Ayesha Siddiqa writes in The Print (November 7. 2023) that the air force lost about 35 men and 14 aircraft were damaged or destroyed.

This failure raises a serious question about the army’s intelligence as well as counter-offensive strategy to deal with well-armed terrorists operating in Pakistan. It is not the first time that the terrorist group had taken the army by surprise.

The Mianwali attack proves that TTP is planning to take its battle to the heart of the Pakistan military by attacking its bases and assets.This is a repeat of what TTP had carried out between 2009 and 2012– the group had launched attacks on PNS Mehran base, PAF Kamra Air Base, GHQ Rawalpindi and the Karachi airport which forced the army to launch Zarb-e-Azb in June 2014.

In 2009, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra. Two security officers and six other people were killed in the attack.

The same year in October, TTP carried out a brazen attack on the Pakistan Army GHQ in Rawalpindi by scaling the wall. A Brigadier and a Lt. Colonel were among those killed in the attack.

On May 22 2011, six TTP gunmen attacked the strategically important PNS Mehran base in Karachi to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden. At least 18 military personnel were killed and 20 wounded in the 16-hour assault. PNS Mehran is the headquarters of the Pakistan Navy’s Naval Air Arm and the most populous Pakistani military installation, located near the PAF’s Faisal Air Force Base of Karachi, Sindh. The attack left two American-built P-3C Orion surveillance aircraft destroyed.

Surprisingly, the modus operandi of the present attack seem to match that of the previous attacks. The attackers came dressed in military fatigues. They climbed the barbed wire fence with the help of a ladder, similar to the manner in which they attacked the Mianwali training air base. They had created diversions in terms of smaller attacks and bomb blasts before these strategic attacks.

The Mianwali attack is a significant attack on the military after the Chitral intrusion in September this year. At least half a dozen military posts were ransacked in this surprise cross-border attack.

The attack clearly indicates the growing strength of the militant group across the northern flank of the country stretching from the Durand Line to Punjab. The sophisticated weapons and other military equipment seized after these operations confirmed fears of the militant weapons power.

With the country now preparing for a critical election in the next few weeks, TTP and its allies are poised to challenge the Pakistan Army even more ruthlessly. (TMPP)