International media links Taliban's Karachi naval base siege to Pak nukes' security issue

Washington, May 24(ANI): While the Obama administration has shown caution in its reaction to the Karachi siege by Taliban militants, media outlets across the globe have linked the attack to the disturbing questions over the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons.

According to Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik, four to six Taliban terrorists entered Karachi's Mehran Naval Station on Sunday night, destroying two US-supplied maritime surveillance aircraft and killing ten military personnel during their 17-hour siege of the naval air base.

"There are believed to have been four to six terrorists. Four are confirmed dead. Two are suspected to have run away," he said, adding that one of the attackers was believed to have blown himself up.

US State Department spokesman Mark Toner noted that the attack underscored the need for continuing cooperation between Washington and Islamabad in the war against terror, despite differences over the US' May 2 raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan's Abbottabad city.

"We strongly condemn this terrorist attack and we're committed to working with Pakistan... in a joint effort to combat this kind of violent extremism," the Dawn quoted Toner, as telling a briefing in Washington.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague also noted that the "attack once again demonstrates the seriousness of the threat that Pakistan faces from domestic militancy and extremism."

While officials were cautious in their reaction, the international media raised the question of the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons.

"And what does it imply for security at other key installations, not least those associated with Pakistan's nuclear deterrent?" the BBC asked.

The Washington Examiner adopted an alarmist approach, claiming that "the attack points out to the increasing radicalisation of the armed forces of Pakistan, as such an attack could not be planned and executed without some inside help from someone inside the Pakistani Navy".

The newspaper warned that if "the terrorists can get hold of any IRBM [intermediate-range ballistic missile] and nuclear materials, a few Indian and Israeli cities and a few thousand NATO soldiers in Afghanistan might go up in smoke."

According to The Washington Post, the attack "underscored the insurgents' ability to penetrate fortified security installations."

The incident "dealt another embarrassing blow to a powerful military that has faced harsh domestic criticism over the US operation that killed Bin Laden," the paper said, adding that the May 2 raid "also raised questions about the safety of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, and defence analysts said the Karachi assault renewed those doubts." (ANI)