Pakistani security forces on Tuesday said they killed four militants who tried to sneak into PNS Siddique, one of the biggest naval air stations in the country.
Residents reported hearing more than a dozen explosions in Turbat town, with gunfire starting around 10pm and persisting late into the night, according to a report by Pakistan-based Dawn.
A separate report by the Associated Press which cited the Pakistan Army said the terrorists were killed during an overnight raid on their hideout in the northwestern part of the country bordering Afghanistan.
The raid by the Pakistani army came hours after militants from the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) snuck into a navy air base in Balochistan province.
Pakistan-based news media outlets said that a soldier from the Balochistan Frontier Corps (FC) also died in the attack.
“Security forces in the vicinity were immediately mobilised to support the naval troops. Synergetic and effective response by the armed forces enabled the killing of all four terrorists in the ensuing joint clearance operation,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.
The report by the Associated Press said that Pakistan security forces found a cache of weapons, ammunition, and explosives in the intelligence-based operation conducted at the hideout in Dera Ismail Khan, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
BLA claimed responsibility for the attack and said that its Majeed Brigade had led the attack. The soldier and the four attackers were killed in the ensuing shootout in Turbat district. The army said no damage was caused to the Siddiqui air station.
BLA was designated a terrorist group by Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the United States years ago.
“The armed men attacked from three sides of the airport boundary, but security forces responded immediately and foiled their attempt to infiltrate the premise,” Makran Commissioner Saeed Ahmed Umrani was quoted as saying by the Dawn.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif commended the Pakistan Army for foiling the terror attack.
