Pakistan

Taliban targets aeronautical complex at Kamra

POREG__LOGO_616812651.jpgOn Friday, the Pakistani Taliban targeted an air base believed to be one of the country’s secret nuclear weapons facilities some 70km northwest of Islamabad. It was the ninth attack on major government installations this month. The day saw in all three suicide bombings that killed at least 25 people.,

The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex at Kamra is the country’s main air force maintenance and research hub, where engineers and workers build and overhaul fighter jets and radar systems.

Pakistan’s nuclear sites are located mostly in the north west of the country, close to Islamabad; that puts these sites virtually in the line of sight of the Pakistan Taliban and its ally Al Qaeda.

Attacks on Pakistan nuclear or nuclear related sites are not new though there is never an official word. At least three suspected nuclear sites were attacked during the past two years., according to reports.


The Kamra attack has taken place amidst reports that the US is keeping a close tab on efforts by Pakistan to keep its nuclear arsenal safe from militants.

Al-Qaeda has ambitions to acquire a nuclear bomb or knowledge of nuclear technology.  Its ally, Hizbut Tahir appears to be one up on al Qaeda.


Only on Oct 20, the Pakistan media reported that a nuclear scientist was among the Hizbut Tahrir activists the police had rounded up from Islamabad. The report did not say when the arrest took place

It, however, identified the activist as Rizwan Aleem, who is presently a PhD student at the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology. Others arrested persons were Abid Mehmood, an officer of a United States Agency for International Development; and Aman Hamza, an environmental scientist.

The sketchy report is in fact formal admission of Pakistan that the militants have nuclear scientists amongst their ranks.

Also on Friday, a minibus, which was carrying a wedding party, hit an anti-tank mine in the tribal area of Mohmand, bordering Afghanistan; at least 16 people were killed. Among the dead were four women and two children. Six others were wounded.

And in Peshawar itself, militants exploded yet another car bomb, this time around in the parking lot of a banquet hall, Ten persons were injured.

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