News
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Mehran attackers had inside support: Navy
* NA committee expresses dissatisfaction over pace of inquiry into attack
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Senior naval officials, on Wednesday, admitted before the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Defence that the terrorists, who had attacked Pakistan Navy’s airbase PNS Mehran in Karachi, had support from inside.
During the meeting, which was held under the chairmanship of Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, opposition members expressed dissatisfaction over the pace of inquiry into the attack. Nevertheless, the chairperson assured the opposition members that responsibility would be fixed after the receipt of inquiry reports from the Naval Headquarters and Interior Ministry.
In its internal findings, the navy revealed that four terrorists had conducted the attack. Report from the joint investigation team on the incident is yet to come. The naval staff deputy chief and air vice marshal of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) briefed the committee on the inquiry report. Talking to media, Pechuho said the committee gave guidelines to improve security of important national assets to avoid such incidents in the future.
Pechuho informed reporters that the way the terrorists sneaked into the naval base was something external and would be looked into by the joint investigation team.
The committee’s members laid stress on making foolproof security for national assets and adopting necessary measures for preventing them from terrorist attacks in the future.
Earlier, officials of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) informed the committee that due to increase in oil prices, the airlines had so far suffered a loss of Rs 6 billion during the current year. They told the committee that by implementing the five-year business plan, the PIA could make savings of upto 15 percent.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk