The early morning assault raises fresh questions over the security of the country's nuclear arsenal, considered one of President Barack Obama's biggest foreign policy headaches.
Taliban fighters mounted a daring raid on one of Pakistan's most heavily protected nuclear air bases on Thursday, killing one soldier and wounding his commander in a five-hour battle.
The early morning assault raises fresh questions over the security of the country's nuclear arsenal, considered one of President Barack Obama's biggest foreign policy headaches.
All nine insurgents wearing air force uniforms and suicide vests were killed in a firefight with security forces after penetrating the high-security Pakistan Aeronautical Complex at Kamra, 45 miles north-west of the capital Islamabad.
Security analysts said the gunmen were able to break into the compound despite a red alert at all military installations following a warning by Pakistan's ISI intelligence agency of an attack by insurgents from the North Waziristan tribal area near the Afghan border. The agency had warned the government of a potential terrorist strike on the 27th day of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting.
The attack is the third on the base since 2007, but is the most audacious and successful to date. The insurgents launched their raid at 2am, with fighters outside firing rocket-propelled grenades at the nearest checkpost while others scaled the boundary wall. They killed at least one soldier and got within striking distance of aircraft hangars, before damaging a transport aircraft with a rocket-propelled grenade.
The insurgents were stopped from reaching F-16 fighter bombers by air force troops led by Air Cdre Muhammed Azam, who was among four men wounded.
Air force officials said the insurgents were aiming to destroy the planes, which are used to bomb Taliban bases in Pakistan's restive tribal areas. They included a squadron of F-16s and the AWACS reconnaissance aircraft used to coordinate their operations.
The base is widely believed to store some of the country's estimated 100 nuclear warheads.
Pakistan's military leaders and government officials have sought to allay American concerns that its facilities are under threat from Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.
A Pakistani defence ministry insider told The Daily Telegraph that nuclear warheads were kept "decoupled" from delivery systems under the country's weapons security policy, and were not stored at Kamra or any other air force base. That has not stopped the US from drawing up contingency plans to seize Pakistan's nuclear warheads in the event that Taliban militants overrun the country.
Three years ago, Obama sent nuclear specialists to the region amid unconfirmed reports that insurgent commanders had obtained sufficient material for a "dirty bomb".
Pakistan's nuclear bases are protected by heavily armed security personnel vetted by the ISI. Despite these measures, other nuclear facilities have been attacked. A spokesperson for the Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibilty for the raid, saying it was carried out in revenge for the death of the group's leader, Baitullah Mehsud, in a drone strike in 2009 and for the killing of Osama bin Laden last year.
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