LAHORE: The May 22 audacious assault targeting the Mehran Naval Base in Karachi was masterminded by al-Qaeda’s Waziristan-based interim chief Commander Saif Al Adal whereas the operational planning was given final touches by al-Qaeda’s chief strategist commander Ilyas Kashmiri, with the backing of the Pakistani Taliban elements.
Saif Al Adal is considered to be a seasoned operational planner and an experienced field commander of al-Qaeda who has been elevated as the acting chief of the organization following bin Laden’s death. He is one of al-Qaeda’s leading military chiefs who had helped to plan the bomb attacks against the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam in August 1998 besides setting up training camps for the terrorist organization in Sudan and Afghanistan in the 1990s.
He has been on the FBI’s list of most-wanted terrorists since 2001, with a $5 million reward for information on his whereabouts. Working as Saif’s second-in-command is Ilyas Kashmiri, one of the most high-profile al-Qaeda leaders operating from North Waziristan, with a Pakistani bounty of 50 million rupees on his head. He was labelled by the United States as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” on August 6, 2010 while the United Nations added him and his Harkatul Jehadul Islami to its blacklist established under UNSC Resolution 1267.
Those investigating the Mehran Naval Base attack believe it was a replica of the October 10, 2009 attack on the General Headquarters of the Pakistan Army in Rawalpindi when ten terrorists, brandishing assault rifles and grenades entered the highly-guarded GHQ building and killed 15 soldiers, including a serving brigadier belonging to the Military intelligence. The ring leader, Aqeel alias Dr Usman, was captured alive. During subsequent interrogation, Aqeel conceded that the GHQ siege was orchestrated by Ilyas Kashmiri, who has been playing a key role in planning terror attacks on Pakistani military installations.
On May 22, 2011, almost 20 months after the GHQ episode, terrorists belonging to al-Qaeda and Taliban, carried out one of the worst attacks of the decade in Pakistan by targeting the country’s naval base in the port city of Karachi. At least six well-armed and highly-trained terrorists managed to enter the Mehran Base of the Pakistan Navy by strolling across a small drain and some bushes towards its rear. They kept walking down the runway of the air base for 20-25 minutes to cover the 2.5-kilometer distance without being noticed by anyone, eventually making their way towards a hangar wherein a fleet of navy aircraft was parked. The terrorists then approached their actual target — two strategically significant P-3C Orion aircraft, and destroyed them by using shoulder missiles.
The investigators say the base also had a strong presence of foreign nationals, both military and civilians. The attackers had come prepared for a long haul as security officials found several packets of dates, among other things, on their dead bodies. It is believed that the attackers might have planned to take hostage or kill the foreign nationals as well in a bid to sabotage Pakistan’s ties with Washington and Beijing — two important world capitals which have been contributing substantially to Pakistan’s military strength.
Preliminary investigations have shown that the attackers first smashed the outer walls of the base with explosives and then used ladders to climb in - the same method that al-Qaeda had employed way back on December 7, 2004 to target the US consulate in Jeddah. This operation was also masterminded by Saif al-Adal while he was operating from Iran.
Those investigating the Mehran Base attack say the target chosen by terrorists showed that they were well aware of the significance of the installation and its role in the ongoing counter-terrorism efforts. The PNS is the headquarters of the naval air arm and being used by the aviation of all the three armed forces for air surveillance over the sea and to prevent any sea-borne intrusions or attacks by terrorists.
The Mehran base assault was also aimed at damaging the intelligence-gathering capabilities of Pakistan by destroying its P-3C Orion surveillance aircrafts which used to take off from Mehran for their missions over the tribal region bordering Afghanistan, especially Waziristan, which is described as a haven of al-Qaeda terrorists who are being targeted by US drones.
Another key objective of the attack could have been to make the Pakistani defence look vulnerable, thus embarrassing the mighty military and intelligence establishment.