Militants raided an air force base Friday in northwest Pakistan, killing 16 people praying inside a mosque.
The attack on the 10-acre Badaber base outside Peshawar is the largest assault on military personnel this year. It’s the highest-profile assault in the area since terrorists killed 145, mostly children, during a school massacre last year.
When the militants attacked the base, security forces responded, eventually killing 14 attackers, Peshawar police official Shafquat Malik said.
The military side suffered 10 injuries, including an army major who was shot in the thigh, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Asim Bajwa said.
Each of the attackers carried 2 kilograms of improvised explosives, plus hand grenades and an AK-47, Malik said.
The Pakistani Taliban, known in the country as Tehrik-i-Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack.
The United States built Badaber Air Base in the 1950s. It was used as a listening post to intercept radio information from the Soviet Union.