DHAKA: Fighters belonging to the Pakistani Taliban have stormed an air force station near Peshawar in Pakistan's northwest, resulting in a firefight with security forces and the deaths of at least 43 people, sources say.

ISPR, the Pakistan military's media wing, said at least 21 security officers and five civilians working at the Badaber Air Force base died and 14 fighters were killed in Friday morning's gun battle.

The Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Taliban, claimed responsibility for the raid at the facility, located on the edge of Peshawar, capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Al-Jazeera reported.

An army captain and two guards were among the dead, according to the military and a local hospital that received the bodies, and at least 10 soldiers were wounded.

It was unclear if any of the attackers got away. Details about how they managed to make their way into a mosque inside the compound walls and kill worshippers during prayers were sketchy.

Ambulances took around 20 wounded military personnel to hospital, Bilal Ahmed, a rescue official, told Reuters news agency.
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The assault came as the Pakistan army was carrying out a major operation against local and foreign fighters in the North Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

Major-General Asim Saleem Bajwa, an army spokesman, said the attackers entered the base from different directions in a two-pronged assault - apparently one push targeted the mosque - but security forces quickly responded.

The airbase - established in the 1960s - was not functional and it was mostly being used as a residential place for the employees and officers of the air force, reports said.

BDST: 1236/1330/1852 HRS, SEP 18, 2015
RS