Pakistani authorities have stepped up security at military and other sensitive installations following the weekend attack by militants on an air base that damaged three grounded aircraft and destroyed a fuel tanker.
A recently formed group, Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan, has claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack in Mianwali, a city in eastern Punjab province, where police have repulsed multiple attacks by another group, the Pakistani Taliban, in recent months.
Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan emerged earlier this year and has claimed multiple attacks, including the July 12, 2023 one on a security post in southwest Pakistan in which nine soldiers and a female passerby were killed.
The military asserted that Saturday’s attack at the Mianwali Training Air Base was largely thwarted because of a “swift and effective response” from security forces.
Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press, taken Saturday hours after the attack, show one aircraft stand at the base destroyed by fire, while others appear to have sustained damage.
The military said it killed all nine attackers.
