Militants kill 10 Yemeni soldiers

The incident occurs in the town of Lawdar on WednesdayThe soldiers are shot by militants at a military checkpoint in the townIn other clashes, an al Qaeda commander is killed, officials say

(CNN) -- Militants gunned down 10 soldiers at a military checkpoint in southwestern Yemen, authorities said Thursday.

The incident occurred Wednesday in the town of Lawdar, security officials said.

In an unrelated incident Wednesday, the Yemen Defense Ministry said it had killed Waleed Osairi, an al Qaeda commander, along with several other suspected al Qaeda militants.

The deaths occurred in Abyan province and is part of an effort to clear the area of the terror group, the government said.

Yemen has been consumed by unrest for months as protesters have demanded an end to the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's rule. Saleh and other senior officials were wounded June 3 in an attack on the mosque at the presidential palace. Saleh is being treated in Saudi Arabia. Officials have said he will return when he has recovered.

In recent weeks, government troops have battled both tribal forces and Islamic militants, including al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz and journalist Hakim Almasari contributed to this report.

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U.S. official in Sanaa, al Qaeda militants flee prison (Reuters)

SANAA (Reuters) – A senior U.S. official held talks on Wednesday with government officials in Yemen, which is teetering on the brink of civil war over President Ali Abdullah Saleh's refusal to meet protesters' demands to step down.

The United States and Saudi Arabia fear that a power vacuum and tribal warfare in Yemen will be exploited by the local wing of al Qaeda to launch attacks in the region and beyond.

On Wednesday, dozens of al Qaeda militants escaped from a prison in the city of al-Mukalla in southern Yemen, a region where security forces and militants often clash.

A Yemeni government source said Jeffrey Feltman, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, would meet Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi and Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is acting president.

He was also due to hold talks with Saleh's son, Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had been widely thought to be next in line for the presidency until protests broke out earlier this year.

Saleh is in Saudi Arabia recovering from injuries sustained in an attack on his palace in Sanaa nearly three weeks ago.

Feltman's talks will cover a transfer of power from the president to his deputy, the government source said.

As commander of the Republican Guards, the main strike force in Yemen, Ahmed Ali holds an influential position in the country of 23 million, which sits on the southern border of Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter.

Saleh has defied calls from global leaders, elements in his own military and tens of thousands of protesters to end his 33- year-old rule, which has brought Yemen close to financial ruin.

He has also exasperated his rich Gulf Arab neighbors by three times agreeing to step down, only to pull out of a power transition plan at the last minute and cling on to power.

AL QAEDA MILITANTS ESCAPE FROM PRISON

In an early bid to placate protesters demanding his ouster, Saleh promised not to hand power to his son, but many Yemenis say Saleh relatives including Ahmed Ali still hold key levers of power, blocking any transition without Saleh's consent.

Opposition parties allied with youth activists have also insisted that Saleh formally hand over power to Hadi as a step toward a new government and democracy.

An aide to Saleh said on Wednesday his health was on the mend and that he had been receiving guests and giving orders on Yemen's day-to-day affairs, including power and fuel shortages.

"The president has rejected a request from several members of his family to come to Riyadh to visit him, and stressed that he will return home soon," Ahmed al-Sufi, the president's media secretary, told Reuters.

Dozens of al Qaeda militants escaped from a jail in Mukalla following an attack on the compound. State media said three were killed in a clash with troops and two were recaptured.

"Ten of the escapees are dangerous elements who belonged to a cell that had attacked government officials and tourists," a local security official told Reuters.

One soldier was killed and two were wounded when militants opened fire on al-Munawara prison in Mukalla, a security official said.

"The militants opened fire on the prison gates and exchanged fire with the guards, injuring two and killing one," the security official said, adding that 62 prisoners had fled.

All the prisoners were Yemeni and most had been jailed after returning from Iraq where they fought in militant ranks, he said.

(Reporting by Mohamed Sudam in Sanaa and Mohammed Mukhashaf in Aden; writing by Sami Aboudi; editing by Alistair Lyon)

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Officials: 57 militants escape Yemen jail (AP)

SANAA, Yemen – Security officials say 57 militants, mostly from al-Qaida, have escaped from a prison in southern Yemen.

They say the 57 were among 62 inmates from the Mukalla jail in the Hadarmout province who escaped Wednesday through an underground tunnel.

Bands of gunmen attacked the prison simultaneously, opening fire on the guards from outside to divert their attention away from the escape.

One guard was killed and another wounded in the attack, said the security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Wednesday's escape was the latest sign that Yemen's months-long upheaval has emboldened al-Qaida militants to challenge authorities in the country's nearly lawless south.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — At least 40 al-Qaida militants escaped from prison Wednesday in the latest sign that Yemen's political upheaval has emboldened them to challenge authorities in the country's nearly lawless south.

In a carefully choreographed escape, the militants attacked their guards and seized their weapons just as bands of heavily armed attackers descended on the prison in Mukalla on the Arabian Sea.

The escapees included militants convicted on terror charges or held in protective custody pending trial, according to officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The last major jail breakout by al-Qaida militants in Yemen took place in 2006, when 23 escaped a Sanaa detention facility including Qassim al-Raimi, who has become the dominant figure in al-Qaida's most active franchise.

The branch has been linked to several nearly successful attacks on U.S. targets, including the plot to bomb a Detroit-bound airliner in December 2009. The group also put sophisticated bombs into U.S.-addressed parcels that made it onto cargo flights.

Yemen's political crisis began when demonstrators inspired by successful uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia took to the streets in early February. The largely peaceful movement gave way to heavy street fighting when tribal militias took up arms in late May.

Yemen's president of nearly 33 years was badly wounded in an attack on his palace earlier this month and is undergoing medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. The head of Yemen's most powerful tribal confederation warned Tuesday in a letter to the Saudi king that Yemen could plunge into civil war if President Ali Abdullah Saleh is allowed to return home.

Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi became acting president following Saleh's departure. The opposition has accused Saleh's inner circle and family of hindering the opposition's dialogue with Hadi.

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U.S. official in Sanaa, al-Qaeda militants escape prison (Reuters)

SANAA (Reuters) – A senior U.S. official is holding talks on Wednesday with government officials in Yemen, which is teetering on the brink of civil war over President Ali Abdullah Saleh's refusal to meet protesters' demands to step down.

The United States and ally Saudi Arabia fear that a power vacuum and tribal warfare in Yemen will be exploited by the local wing of al Qaeda to launch attacks in the region and beyond.

On Wednesday, dozens of al Qaeda militants escaped from a prison the city of al-Mukalla in southern Yemen, the latest in a series of increasingly deadly clashes between security forces and militants in the south of the country.

A Yemeni government source said Jeffrey Feltman, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, will meet Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi and Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is acting president.

He is also due to hold talks with Saleh's son, Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had been widely thought to be next in line for the presidency until protests broke out earlier this year.

Saleh is in Saudi Arabia recovering from injuries sustained in an attack on his palace in Sanaa nearly three weeks ago.

Talks will focus on "the situation in Yemen and the issue of the transfer of power" by the president to his deputy, the government source said.

As commander of the Republican Guards, the main strike force in Yemen, Ahmed Ali holds sway in the country of 23 million, which sits on the southern border of Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter.

Saleh has defied calls from global leaders, elements in his own military and tens of thousands of protesters to end his 33 year-rule, which has brought Yemen close to financial ruin.

He has also exasperated his rich Gulf Arab neighbors by three times agreeing to step down, only to pull out of a power transition plan at the last minute and cling on to power.

AL QAEDA MILITANTS ESCAPE FROM PRISON

In an early bid to placate protesters demanding his ouster, Saleh guaranteed he would not hand power down to his son, but many Yemenis say key members of Saleh's family including Ahmed Ali remain firmly in control of key levers of power, blocking any handover of power without Saleh's consent.

Opposition parties allied with youth activists have also insisted that Saleh formally hand over power to Hadi as a step toward a new government and democracy.

An aide to Saleh said on Wednesday his health was on the mend and that he had been receiving guests and giving instructions on day-to-day affairs in Yemen, including a power cut and fuel shortages.

"The president has rejected a request from several members of his family to come to Riyadh to visit him, and stressed that he will return home soon," said Ahmed al-Sufi, the president's media secretary told Reuters.

Dozens of al Qaeda militants escaped from a jail in southern Yemen on Wednesday following an attack on the compound.

One soldier was killed and two were wounded when militants opened fire on al-Munawara prison in the southern port city of al-Mukalla, a security official said.

"The militants opened fire on the prison gates and exchanged fire with the guards, injuring two and killing one," the security official said, adding that 62 prisoners had fled.

All the prisoners were Yemeni and most of them had been jailed after returning from Iraq where they fought in militant ranks, he said.

(Reporting by Mohamed Sudam, Writing by Sami Aboudi)

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Yemen says army beating militants in southern city (Reuters)

ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) – Yemeni authorities said government forces made progress on Monday in efforts to dislodge Islamist militants holding the southern city of Zinjibar.

"The army is besieging the remnants of the terrorists and is on the verge of completely cleansing Zinjibar," the local provincial governor, Saleh Hussein al-Zuari, said in comments on the Yemeni defense ministry's 26 September website.

It was not possible to verify his statement. No comment was available from the armed Islamist group in the city.

A military spokesman said troops had killed 17 militants as of Monday -- five more than the figure given on Sunday, the first day of the offensive in Zinjibar. Five soldiers had died and 21 were wounded, the military added.

Last month's seizure of Zinjibar, capital of Abyan province, caused thousands to flee and raised fears that militants with ties to al Qaeda were gaining ground as veteran President Ali Abdullah Saleh resisted pressure from his U.S. and Saudi allies to stand down in favor of a transition to democracy.

Saleh has been in a Saudi hospital since being wounded in an attack on his palace on June 3, but he retains power.

Saleh's opponents say his forces handed over Zinjibar to the militants in order to bolster his argument that his departure would lead to an Islamist takeover of the poor Arab state.

(Reporting by Mohammed Mukhashaf; writing by Sami Aboudi; editing by Alastair Macdonald)

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Clashes between army, militants in Yemen kill 21 (Reuters)

ADEN (Reuters) – At least 12 militants and nine soldiers were killed in three clashes on Sunday in southern Yemen, where Islamists and separatists have launched several attacks during the country's bloody political crisis.

Twelve militants and two soldiers were killed outside Zinjibar -- the capital of the flashpoint southern province of Abyan, a military official said.

A local official later told Reuters that five soldiers were killed in a separate attack by militants near Zinjibar.

In the southern province of Lahej, a local official said two soldiers were killed in a shootout.

Thousands of people have fled the clashes between the army and militants believed to be close to al Qaeda in the southern province of Abyan, after its capital Zinjibar fell to militants last month.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's opponents have accused him of handing over Zinjibar to Islamists to reinforce his threat that the end of his three-decade rule, as demanded by protesters, would amount to ceding the region to al Qaeda.

In Lahej, where both separatists and Islamist forces have as much or more sway than the central government, gunmen have launched bold attacks in recent weeks.

Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, and Western countries fear protracted chaos could give al Qaeda a foothold in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state.

Yemen straddles oil export routes and has been a cornerstone of U.S. counterterrorism strategy.

Saleh's supporters say he will return in days from Saudi Arabia where he is being treated after being wounded two weeks ago in an attack at his presidential palace.

(Reporting by Mohammed Mukhashaf; Editing by Jan Harvey)

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Pakistan says it drives militants into Afghanistan (Reuters)

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistan has driven a group of militants from a stronghold in its tribal areas into eastern Afghanistan, the army said on Sunday, in the latest flare-up along the Pakistan-Afghan border.

With each country blaming the other for failing to crack down hard enough on militants, the fighting threatens to raise tensions as the United States prepares to announce a gradual withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan next month.

A Pakistan army statement said it had launched an air and ground assault against a militant stronghold in Mohmand tribal agency and killed 25, while the rest fled across the border.

The area lies opposite the Korengal Valley, from where the United States pulled back its troops in 2010 after deciding to concentrate its forces in population centers in southern Afghanistan, the heartland of the Taliban.

Pakistan complained the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Kunar province opened up safe havens for militants and left it vulnerable to counter-attack after it drove them out of its own tribal areas.

"It was a thickly forested and mountainous area," a paramilitary officer told Reuters. "Whenever we launched operations, militants fled to Afghanistan and then returned and based in the area."

The Pakistani complaints mirror those made by U.S. officials who say fighting in Afghanistan is undercut by militant sanctuaries in Pakistan. It is impossible to obtain independent verification of military activity in the remote border areas.

The latest operation, launched on Saturday, was carried out in the same area where Pakistan on Friday complained that NATO aircraft had attacked one of its military posts after intruding 2.5 km (1.5 miles) inside Pakistani territory.

Pakistan expressed serious concern to the United States over the intrusion. Local officials said a few bombs were dropped but no casualties were reported.

Relations between Pakistan and the United States have been strained since the unilateral raid by U.S. forces who killed Osama bin Laden in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad on May 2.

U.S. forces have also stepped up attacks on militant targets by drone aircraft in the tribal areas and Washington is pushing for the Pakistan army to further expand its operations there.

Pakistani officials say, however, that its military is already overstretched. It also wants a commitment from the United States that its troops will secure its side of the border. Otherwise, it says, its own troops and people become vulnerable to attack by militants based on the Afghan side.

"Almost all of the militant leaders wanted in Pakistan are hiding across the border and they keep sending fighters here to attack our forces and villagers," a senior military official told Reuters.

Last week Pakistani officials said six civilians were killed in a cross-border raid on three villages in Bajaur agency to the north of Mohmand, the second such incursion this month.

On Friday, the foreign ministry summoned the Afghan ambassador to Islamabad and lodged a protest over what it said was a cross-border attack by 100 to 150 militants.

(Additional reporting by Kamran Haider, writing by Myra MacDonald, editing by Angus MacSwan)

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Sources: Panetta Confronts Pakistan Over Collusion With Militants (Time.com)

The troubled relations between Washington and Islamabad are undergoing further strain. CIA chief Leon Panetta traveled to the capital of Pakistan on Friday to confront that country's powerful military leadership with evidence of suspected collusion with pro-Afghan Taliban militants in the tribal areas, sources familiar with the discussion revealed to TIME.

According to the sources, the CIA chief, who will soon succeed Robert Gates as U.S. Secretary of Defense, was in meetings late on Friday with Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and his intelligence chief, Lieut. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI).

The sources said that Panetta shared with the Pakistani generals a 10-minute edited video that shows the militants evacuating two bomb factories in Waziristan. One of the factories is based in Miranshah, North Waziristan. The other factory is in South Waziristan. The militants in North Waziristan are believed to belong to groups led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Sirajuddin Haqqani. Both militant leaders have attacked U.S. and NATO troops across the border in Afghanistan, and enjoy non-aggression pacts with the Pakistan Army.

According to the soruces, Panetta alleged that the militants were tipped off within 24 hours of the U.S. sharing information on the facilities with the Pakistanis. When Pakistani troops later arrived at the scene of the two bomb-making facilities, used for the manufacture of improvised explosive devices, the militants were gone. The sources tell TIME that the CIA believes elements within the Pakistani security apparatus had informed the militants that they would be targeted.

The video, say the sources, was made up of satellite images. Those who have seen the video said that it was a "clear" and "explicit" demonstration of the militants leaving the two sites. Before Panetta travelled to Islamabad, the video was shown to congressional leaders, including the U.S. Senate's committees on intelligence.

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Sources: Panetta Confronts Pakistan Over Collusion With Militants (Time.com)

The troubled relations between Washington and Islamabad are undergoing further strain. CIA chief Leon Panetta traveled to the capital of Pakistan on Friday to confront that country's powerful military leadership with evidence of suspected collusion with pro-Afghan Taliban militants in the tribal areas, sources familiar with the discussion revealed to TIME.

According to the sources, the CIA chief, who will soon succeed Robert Gates as U.S. Secretary of Defense, was in meetings late on Friday with Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and his intelligence chief, Lieut. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI).

The sources said that Panetta shared with the Pakistani generals a 10-minute edited video that shows the militants evacuating two bomb factories in Waziristan. One of the factories is based in Miranshah, North Waziristan. The other factory is in South Waziristan. The militants in North Waziristan are believed to belong to groups led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Sirajuddin Haqqani. Both militant leaders have attacked U.S. and NATO troops across the border in Afghanistan, and enjoy non-aggression pacts with the Pakistan Army.

According to the soruces, Panetta alleged that the militants were tipped off within 24 hours of the U.S. sharing information on the facilities with the Pakistanis. When Pakistani troops later arrived at the scene of the two bomb-making facilities, used for the manufacture of improvised explosive devices, the militants were gone. The sources tell TIME that the CIA believes elements within the Pakistani security apparatus had informed the militants that they would be targeted.

The video, say the sources, was made up of satellite images. Those who have seen the video said that it was a "clear" and "explicit" demonstration of the militants leaving the two sites. Before Panetta travelled to Islamabad, the video was shown to congressional leaders, including the U.S. Senate's committees on intelligence.

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Pakistan: Militants Attack Naval Base in Karachi (Time.com)

There was more bad news on Sunday for a Pakistani military already reeling from the fallout of the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden: suspected Islamist militants launched a brazen large-scale attack on a Pakistani naval base in the southern port city of Karachi. As many as 15 fighters carrying guns, grenades and rocket-propelled grenades stormed into the Pakistan naval station Mehran on Sunday in the most dramatic attack in years on a Pakistani military facility. The attackers used their rockets to destroy at least two Lockheed P-3C Orion aircraft, used for maritime patrolling, and a helicopter. The aircraft, estimated to be worth $36 million each, had been given to the Pakistan navy by the U.S. Scores of Pakistani commandos were dispatched to the scene and were still battling the attackers at time of writing. The Pakistan navy has confirmed that four of its personnel, including one officer, have been slain.

Karachi, a city of 18 million people, was plunged into despair yesterday as thick, black plumes of smoke filled the air along with the sounds of dozens of ambulances racing to the naval base. While no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, the prime suspects are the Pakistani Taliban and other al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist groups. Since the slaying of bin Laden, militants have escalated their terrorism campaign with deadly attacks on the Pakistani paramilitaries on May 13, killing over 90 recruits. Nine days later, they bombed a U.S. consular convoy in the northwest city of Peshawar, killing a bystander. Days after bin Laden's death, the Pakistani Taliban had vowed to exact revenge. (See photos of the twin suicide bombings on May 13.)

The attack has raised familiar questions about how its perpetrators were able to breach the security of such a sensitive installation from three different points of entry. Once inside the base, the attackers rushed into a hangar and began to destroy the aircraft. The Mehran naval base is also the headquarters of the Pakistan navy's air wing. The attackers split into smaller groups of three, and spread themselves across the facility - a tactic used in previous attacks on other security installations, and even in the March 2009 attack on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore. Sunday's attackers set off explosions and fired rockets as they engaged in firefights with navy personnel, before reinforcements from a special commando unit and other paramilitaries arrived. Two of the attackers are reportedly in custody right now.

The operation to restore security at the base was still under way seven hours after the attack began, with intermittent exchanges of fire heard at some distance from the naval base. Flames from at least three fires set by the attackers burned brightly, and at least six explosions were heard from outside the base. After cordoning off the area, firefighting teams and ambulances arrived to tame the flames and rescue the wounded. A nearby navy hospital issued an appeal for blood, as Karachi's terrorism-hardened citizens rushed there to volunteer their own. "Terrorists have attacked Karachi again," laments Ayesha Tammy Haq, a columnist and native of the city. "Citizens have come out to donate blood and help in any way they can. Any loss is everyone's loss." Karachi is routinely scarred by target killings between rival ethnic, political and sectarian factions. (See why bin Laden's death should finish al-Qaeda.)

The attack leaves Pakistan's powerful military facing difficult questions. Analysts believe that the success of an apparently well-organized attack on this scale would have required at least some complicity from within the military. A former navy official told ARY News that the assault appeared to have been planned from a map of the facility. The perpetrators of previous attacks, like the October 2009 siege of the army's general headquarters, were found to have links to low-ranking military personnel with fundamentalist sympathies.

Sunday's attack was seen as part of a backlash against the May 2 U.S. raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, with fears rising that militants are planning a new campaign of high-profile attacks. For most of the past year, the worst terrorist attacks have targeted Pakistan's Sufi-leaning Barelvi population and other religious minorities. The change of focus was attributed to the fact that the Pakistan military had backed off from mounting large-scale counterinsurgency operations. Now, after bin Laden's death, his supporters in Pakistan appear keen to shift back to the security targets they favored throughout 2009. (Read "Is Pakistan Losing Patience in the War on Terror?")

The Pakistan navy appears to have become a particular focus for the militants: in the last week of April, three buses carrying navy personnel were bombed in Karachi. The bulk of the militants' attacks over the years have targeted police, army, paramilitaries and intelligence services; the reasons for targeting the navy in particular are not clear. But the latest attack appears to have been long planned, given its sophistication, even if the cue for its execution was the militants' avowed campaign to avenge bin Laden's death.

Since the operation that killed bin Laden, the military has been the subject of rare and fierce criticism, with a broad range of voices asking why they not only failed to locate bin Laden themselves, but also failed to detect the incursion of the U.S. Navy SEAL team. The naval-base attack will serve as a further embarrassment to heavily decorated officers who have long prided themselves on being the guardians of Pakistan's security.

But Sunday's carnage could also help Pakistan return to focusing on the extremist enemy within. Recent public discussion has been dominated with complaints about the violation of sovereignty during the bin Laden raid - with Pakistan's Parliament last week uniting to condemn CIA drone strikes against suspected militants on Pakistani soil - reflecting a growing hostility among the public, and even the security forces, over cooperation with the West. When the dust settles on Sunday's attack in Karachi, Pakistanis will have an opportunity to focus once again on those who represent the most immediate danger to their security.

See photos of bin Laden's Pakistan hideaway.

Watch bin Laden's eerie home videos.

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Pakistan retakes naval base after just six militants attack (Reuters)

KARACHI (Reuters) – Troops recaptured a Pakistani naval air force base Monday after a 16-hour battle with as few as six Taliban gunmen who had launched their brazen attack to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden.

The assault casts fresh doubt on the military's ability to protect its bases following a raid on the army headquarters in the city of Rawalpindi in 2009 and is a further embarrassment following the surprise raid by U.S. special forces on the al Qaeda leader's hideout north of Islamabad on May 2.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said just six militants were believed involved in the attack on the PNS Mehran base in Karachi late Sunday, destroying or damaging two aircraft and laying siege to a main building in one of the most heavily guarded bases in the unstable, nuclear-armed country.

At least 10 military personnel were killed and 20 wounded in the assault that started at 10.30 p.m. Sunday (1730 GMT), a navy spokesman said.

Malik said three militants were killed in the gunbattle while the body of a fourth was believed to be buried under the rubble of a collapsed wall. Two suspects were believed to have fled the scene, he added.

The Pakistan Taliban, who are allied with al Qaeda, said they had staged the attack to avenge bin Laden's death.

"It was the revenge of martyrdom of Osama bin Laden. It was the proof that we are still united and powerful," Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

LADDERS, GUNS, ROCKET-PROPELLED GRENADES

Malik said the militants, aged between 20 and 25, used two ladders to scale the walls of the base and jumped in by cutting barbed wire.

He said the militants had used guns and grenades in their attack on the base, 15 miles from the Masroor Air Base, Pakistan's largest and a possible depot for nuclear weapons.

PNS Mehran is ringed by a concrete wall with about 5 ft of barbed wire on top. An aircraft, armed with rockets, hangs on show on a stand outside.

As troops wound down their assault, some Karachi residents said they could not believe security could have been so lax.

"If these people can just enter a military base like this, then how can any Pakistani feel safe?" asked Mazhar Iqbal, 28, an engineering company administrator taking a lunch break in the shade outside the complex where a crowd had gathered.

"The government and the army are just corrupt. We need new leaders with a vision for Pakistan."

Malik said 17 foreigners -- including 11 Chinese and six Americans -- were inside the base at the time. All had been evacuated safely.

One P-3C Orion, a maritime patrol aircraft supplied by the United States, had been destroyed and another aircraft had been damaged.

TALIBAN DENIES MULLAH OMAR KILLED

Pakistan has faced a wave of assaults over the last few years, many of them claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.

Others have been blamed on al Qaeda-linked militant groups once nurtured by the Pakistani military and which have since slipped out of control.

The Taliban have stepped up attacks since bin Laden's death, killing almost 80 people in a suicide bombing on a paramilitary academy and an assault on a U.S. consular vehicle in Peshawar.

Malik said militants had planned to attack sensitive military installations as well as important figures at a meeting in North Waziristan -- a global hub for militants on the Afghan border -- after bin Laden's killing.

Monday, at least seven militants, including three Arab nationals, were killed in a missile strike by a U.S. drone aircraft in North Waziristan, local intelligence officials said.

The Pakistani Taliban are led by Hakimullah Mehsud, whose fighters regularly clash with the army in the northwest, parts of which are bases for Afghan militants.

Monday, an Afghan television station reported Taliban leader Mullah Omar had been killed in Pakistan, but the group denied it, saying he was safe and in Afghanistan.

The United States sees Pakistan as a key, if difficult, ally essential to its attempts to root out militant forces in Afghanistan.

Pakistan, however, sees militant groups as leverage to ward off the influence of its old enemy India in Afghanistan, and the discovery that bin Laden was living in the town of Abbottabad has revived suspicion that militants may be receiving help from the security establishment.

Pakistan says its senior leadership did not know of bin Laden's whereabouts, but his presence, and his killing, have strained already fragile ties with the United States and deeply embarrassed Pakistan's military.

The military, for its part, has come under intense domestic pressure for allowing five U.S. helicopters to penetrate Pakistan's airspace and kill the al Qaeda leader.

Many U.S. lawmakers are questioning whether to cut the billions of dollars of aid Pakistan receives to help root out militants.

Monday, the Pakistani rupee fell to a record low against the U.S. dollar, partly because of concerns that growing tension with the West could choke off much needed foreign aid.

(Additional reporting by Chris Allbritton, Zeeshan Haider, Kamran Haider, Sahar Ahmed and Imtiaz Shah; Writing by Miral Fahmy; Editing by Nick Macfie and Alex Richardson)

(For more Reuters coverage of Pakistan, see: http://www.reuters.com/places/pakistan)

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Over 70 militants attack Pakistani security post, 17 dead (Reuters)

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – More than 70 militants armed with rockets and mortars attacked a security post on the outskirts of Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar on Wednesday, the latest in an upsurge of violence since Osama bin Laden was killed in the country this month.

Two members of the security forces and at least 15 insurgents were killed in a four-hour gunbattle that erupted following two successive attacks on the security post set up to defend Peshawar, the gateway to the troubled northwest region.

"They were well-armed. They had heavy weapons, rockets, mortars everything. The fighting lasted for about four and a half hours," Ejaz Khan, a city police officer, said.

The attack took place near Khyber, part of Pakistan's lawless tribal belt on the Afghan border, which is regarded as a global hub of militants, including al Qaeda and the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban movements.

Two members of the security forces were killed and five wounded, Khan said. At least 15 insurgents were killed.

Security forces repulsed the first attack by the militants which was carried out just before midnight, officials said.

"Then they carried out a big attack early in the morning. We also called in reinforcements to counter the attack and we did it," a Peshawar security official said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but militants linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban have stepped up attacks in Pakistan after the killing of bin Laden in A military town by U.S. special forces on May 2.

The Pakistani Taliban, who are close to al Qaeda, have vowed to avenge bin Laden's death and said their suicide bombers killed 80 people last week at a paramilitary academy in the northwestern town of Charsadda.

In a suspected sectarian attack on Wednesday, two men on a motorbike fired on a vehicle and killed four Shi'ite Muslims and wounded four others on the outskirts of the southwestern city of Quetta.

Pro-Taliban Sunni militants groups, many of whom are linked to al Qaeda, are trying to foment conflict among Pakistan's religious sects in an attempt to destabilize the government just as it faces pressure from the United States and the West to crack down on militant groups, analysts say.

Pakistan has come under renewed pressure to prove it is serious about tackling militancy since bin Laden was discovered after apparently spending at least five years in the South Asian nation about a two hour drive from the headquarters of the country's intelligence service.

(Reporting by Faris Ali and Zeeshan Haider; Writing by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by Michael Georgy and Sanjeev Miglani)

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Afghan official: 10 militants killed near border

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan police on Friday killed 10 militants in a gun battle in eastern Paktika province, a provincial official said.

The fighting occurred near the Pakistani border and the militants were suspected members of the Haqqani network, which is affiliated with the Afghan Taliban and closely aligned with al-Qaida, said Mokhlis Afghan, a spokesman for Paktika governor Muhibullah Samim. Afghan said all the militants were thought to be Pakistani.

Earlier, NATO said a roadside bomb killed a service member in southern Afghanistan. It said the attack occurred on Thursday and provided no further details about the attack, nor did it give the nationality of the service member.

Two coalition service members have been killed in action this month, while 114 have died since the start of the year.

In Baghlan province, northeast of Kabul, a torrential downpour on Thursday flooded several districts, killing nine people — including women and children — and destroying several houses and roads, according to provincial governor Abdul Majid.

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Militants kill at least 6 in Pakistan

Pakistani Shiite Muslims gather during a road block protest in Quetta on Friday following the attack.The militants fire at a graveyard in Balochistan provinceAt least nine people are injured

(CNN) -- Militants in two vehicles fired a rocket and guns at people in southwestern Pakistan on Friday, leaving six dead and nine injured, a senior police official said.

The militants targeted a graveyard in Hazara area, said Muhammad Dawood Junejo, a Quetta police officer.

"Initially, they fired a rocket and then started firing on people in the graveyard," the officer said.

The officer said the incident seems to be an act of sectarian attack.

Quetta is the capital of the Balochistan province, which has had militant attacks in the past.

Last year, about 50 minority Shiites were killed when a suicide bomber struck an Al Quds rally in September.

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